UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  SAN  DIEGO 


3  1822  02665  2701 


UBnARY 

University  OF 

CA!  /.-ORN!A 

SAN  D^EGO 


) 


COBBETT'S 
LEGACY  TO  PARSONS, 


OB 


HAVE  THE  CLERGY  OF  THE  ESTABLISHED  CHURCH  AN  EQUITABLE  RIGHT  TO 
THB  TITHES,  OR  TO  ANY  OTHER  THING  CALLED  CHTTRCH  PKOPERTY, 
GREATER  THAN  THE  DISSENTERS  HAVE  TO  THE  SAME  1  AND  OUGHT 
THERE,  OR  OUGHT  THERE  NOT,  TO  BE  A  SEPARATION  OF  THE  CHURCH 
PROM  TES  STATE? 


IN  SIX  LETTERS, 

ADDRESSED   TO 


THE'CHURCH-P ARSONS  IN  GENERAL,  INCLUDC^G  THE  CATHEDRAL 
AND  COLLEGE  CLERGY  AND  THE  BISHOPS 

WITH 

A   DEDICATION  TO  BLOMFIELD, 

BISHOP  OF  LONDON. 


BY  WILLIAM  COBBETT,  ESa.  M.  P. 

—  FOR   OLDHAM. 


NEW  YORK : 
D.   &  J.     SADLIER, 

58  Gold  Street. 
1845. 


CONTENTS. 


Dedication. 5 

Letter, 

1.  How  came  there  to  be  an  Established  Church"?       -      9 

2.  How  came  there  to  be  people  called  Dissenters'?     -    42 

3.  What  is  the  foundation  of  the  domination  of  the 

former  over  the  latter '? 55 

4.  Does  the  Establishment  conduce  to  religious  in- 

struction"? ----- 76 

5.  What  is  the  state  of  the  Establishment  1   and,  is 

it  possible  to  reform  if?     ---------88 

6.  What  is  that  compound  thing,  called  Church  and 

State "?  and  what  would  be  the  effects  of  a  sepa- 
ration of  them  1  - 118 


DEDICATION 


TO    JAMES    BLOMFIELD,    BISHOP    OF    LONDON. 


Normandy  Farm,  9th  March,  1835. 

Bishop, 

About  six-ancl-twenty  years  ago,  you  drank  tea 
at  my  house  at  Botley,  when  you  were  a  curate  of 
some  place  in  Norfolk  ;  or  a  teacher  to  the  offsprings 
of  some  hereditary  legislator.  How  rugged  has 
my  course  been  since  that  time  :  how  thickly  has 
my  path  been  strewed  with  thorns  !  How  smooth, 
how  flowery,  how  pleasant,  your  career  !  Yet,  here 
we  are ;  you  with  a  mitre  on  your  head,  indeed, 
and  a  crosier  in  your  holy  hands ;  I,  at  the  end  of 
my  rugged  and  thorny  path  in  a  situation  to  have  a 
right,  in  the  name  of  the  millions  of  this  nation,  to 
inquire,  not  only  into  your  conduct,  but  into  the 
utility  of  the  very  office  that  you  fill. 

It  is  now  become  a  question,  seriously,  publicly, 
and  practically  entertained,  whether  you  and  your 
brethren  of  the  Established  Church  should  be  legally 
deprived  of  all  your  enormous  temporal  possessions; 
and  also,  whether  your  whole  order,  should  not,  as 
a  thing  supported  by  the  law,  be  put  an  end  to  for 
ever.  These  questions  must  now  be  discussed. 
1* 


6  DEDICATION. 

They  are  not  to  be  shuffled  off  by  Commissions  of 
Inquiry,  or  any  other  Commissions :  the  people 
demand  a  discussion  of  these  questions,  and  a  de- 
cision upon  them  :  the  Parliament  must  discuss 
them  ;  and,  this  little  book,  which  I  now  dedicate 
to  you,  is  written  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  us  all  in 
the  discussion ;  so  that  we  may  come  at  last  to  a 
just  decision. 

I  select  YOU  to  dedicate  my  book  to  :  first  because 
you  were  a  zealous  defender  of  the  Dead-Body 
Bill,  which  consigns  the  corpses  of  the  most  un- 
fortunate of  the  poor  to  be  cut  up  by  surgeons,  in- 
stead of  being  consigned,  with  double  and  treble 
solicitude,  to  the  care  of  a  truly  Christian  clergy, 
and  provided  with  all  the  means  and  circumstances 
of  the  most  respectful  Christian  burial. 

Another  reason  is,  that  you  were  a  poor-law  com- 
missioner ;  one  of  the  authors  of  that  book,  which 
was  slyly  laid  upon  the  table  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, by  the  Whigs,  in  1833  ;  and  one  of  the  au- 
thors of  that  voluminous  report  and  appendix,  laid 
upon  the  table  of  the  same  House  last  year ;  on 
which  report  and  appendix  the  coarser-food  hill  was 
passed  ;  and  in  which  report  and  appendix,  you 
have  communicated  to  the  House  of  Commons  the 
most  infamous  libels  against  me  by  name. 

Another  reason  is,  that  you  are  a  Church-reform 
commissioner^  under  the  present  set  of  Ministers  ; 
and  that  I  find,  that,  while  you  were  Bishop  of 
Chester,  you  made  a  G.  B.  Blomfield,  a  preben- 
dary of  Chester,  and  that  he  now  has,  in  addition 
to  that  prebend,  two  great  church  livings  ;  namely, 
the  rectory  of  Caddington,  and  the  rectory  of 
Tattenhall,  each  worth,  probably,  from  a  thou- 
sand to  fifteen  hundred  pounds  a  year.  Now, 
bishop,  this  is  a  very  solid  reason  for  addressing 


DEDICATION.  7 

my  little  book  to  you  ;  for,  if  you  can  talk  of 
^''  Church-re  for  711,'''  and  about  seeking  for  the  raeans 
of  'providing  for  the  cure  of  souls,  while  this  Blom- 
FiELD  has  a  prebend  and  two  great  rectories,  it  is 
pretty  clear  that  you  want  a  great  deal  of  enlighten- 
ing- on  the  subject.  If  you  do  not,  however',  many 
other  people  do  ;  and  therefore  it  is,  that  I  write 
and  publish  this  little  book,  which  is  my  Legacy 
TO  Parsons,  and  which  I  most  earnestly  hope  will 
very  soon  be  amongst  the  most  valuable  of  their 
remaining  temporal  possessions.  You  will  find  the 
little  book  go  to  the  very  bottom  of  the  matter; 
that  it  will  unveil  all  the  mystery  that  has  hung 
about  this  Church  for  so  many  years  ;  that  it  will 
leave  the  people  nothing  more  to  ask  about  the 
matter :  and  put  them  in  a  situation  to  determine 
reasonably,  at  once,  either  to  submit  to  the  most 
crying  abuses  that  ever  existed  upon  the  face  of  the 
earth  ;  or  to  put  themselves  in  motion  for  the  pur- 
pose of  legally,  but  resolutely,  effectually,  and  for 
ever,  putting  an  end  to  this  abuse. 

Wm.  cobbett. 


LETTER  I. 

how  came  there  to  be  an  established  church  ? 

Parsons, 

This  question  ought  to  be  clearly  answered  ;  be- 
cause on  it  must  turn  the  great  practical  question 
now  at  issue  ;  namely,  has  the  Parliament  the 
rightful  power  to  assume,  to  take  possession  of, 
and  to  dispose  of  the  tithes  and  all  other  property, 
commonly  called  Church-property,  in  whatever 
manner  it  may  think  proper  ?  You  and  your  par- 
tisans contend  that  it  has  not  this  rightful  power : 
I  contend  that  it  has.  As  to  the  justice  and  the  ex- 
pediency, we  shall  have  to  consider  these  further 
on  :  we  have  first  to  settle  the  question  of  right ; 
and  this  question  will  be  settled,  at  once,  when  we 
have  seen  h^w  this  Church  came  to  he. 

The  following  facts  are  undeniable  ;  namely,  that 
the  Roman  Catholic  religion  was  the  religion  of  all 
Christian  countries  and  governments  until  about  the 
year  1520,  when  Henry  the  Eighth  was  King  of 
England  ;  that  the  Roman  Catholics  contended  that 
their  Church  was  established  by  Christ  and  the 
Apostles  ;  that  they  ordained  that  there  should  be 
one  flock,  one  fold,  and  one  shepherd  ;  that  the 
Church  was  built  on  a  rock,  the  name  of  St.  Peter 
being  synonymous  with  ihat  of  stone,  or  rock  ;  that 


10  cobbett's  [Letter 

St.  Peter  was  appointed  by  this  Divine  authority 
to  be  the  first  head  of  the  Church,  after  Christ  him- 
self; that  the  Popes  have  been,  and  are,  the  true 
successors  of  St.  Peter,  by  Divine  appointment ; 
that  the  Pope  is  the  one  shepherd,  to  whom  all 
Christians  owe  spiritual  obedience.  The  religion 
was  called  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  ;  because 
the  see  (that  is  to  say,  seat)  of  St.  Peter  was  at 
Rome,  and  because  his  authority  was  universal, 
that  beinsf  the  meaninor  of  the  word  Catholic. 

No  matter  as  to  ihe  truth  or  error  of  these  opin- 
ions and  assertions  :  they  prevailed  ;  with  here  and 
there  an  exception,  all  Christians  held  these 
opinions  ;  and,  when  the  Christian  religion  was  in- 
troduced into  England,  which  was  effectually  done 
about  six  hundred  years  after  the  death  of  Christ, 
these  opinions  prevailed  in  England  as  well  as  in 
other  Christian  countries.  The  Pope  was  the  head 
OF  the  Church  here  as  well  as  elsewhere  ;  his 
spiritual  authority  he  exercised  without  any  co-part- 
nership with,  or  dependence  upon,  the  state  ;  the 
tithes  and  oblations  were  claimed  by  him  and  the 
clergy  as  things  belonging-  to  God,  and  held  by 
them  solely  by  Divine  authority.  Whatever  was 
given  to  the  Church  by  any  body ;  whatever  en- 
dowment, of  any  description  ;  was  held  to  belong 
to  the  Church,  independent  of  all  temporal  or  se- 
cular power.  The  Church  claimed  to  hold  its  pos- 
sessions independent  of  all  written  laws  ;  they 
claimed  a  prescriptive  right  to  all  their  possessions  ; 
they  allowed  no  time  to  work  injury  to  their  rights  : 
in  short,  they  claimed  to  hold  their  possessions  im- 
mediately from  God  himself,  as  a  man  claims  the 
right  to  the  possession  of  his  life  and  his  limbs  ;  and, 
of  course, they  denied  that  any  legislator,or  any  body 
of  legislators,  possessed,  or  could  possibly  possess, 


I.]  LEGACY    TO    PARSONS.  11 

the  rightful  power  to  take  from  them,  or  to  interfere 
with  the  manag-ement  of,  any  part  of  those  posses- 
sions. As  I  said  before,  no  matter  as  to  the  sound- 
ness or  unsoundness  of  tlie  doctrines  on  which  these 
pretensions  were  founded  :  such  were  the  doctrines, 
and  such  the  pretensions ;  and,  during  their  preva- 
lence in  England,  arose  our  churches,  our  parishes 
(or  priestships,)  our  cathedrals,  and  bishops'  sees  ; 
all  those  monasteries  which  have  since  been  sup- 
pressed and  destroyed  ;  and,  along  with  the  rest, 
our  universities  and  their  colleges. 

For  a  Parliament  to  meddle  with  a  Church  like 
this  ;  to  question  the  rightful  power  of  a  Parliament, 
consisting  of  laymen,  to  meddle  with  the  possessions 
of  a  Church  like  this,  having  its  Head  totally  sepa- 
rate from  the  temporal  sovereignty  of  the  country; 
to  question  the  rightful  power  of  a  body  of  laymen 
to  meddle  with  the  property  of  a  Church  like  this, 
whose  Divine  origin,  and  Divine  mission  and  au- 
thority, had  been  universally  acknowledged  for 
above  twelve  hundred  years  ;  to  question  the  right- 
ful power  of  a  Parliament,  in  such  a  case,  was  not 
a  thing  so  very  unreasonable  ;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
the  questioners  had  reason  on  their  side,  especially 
as  these  doctrines  had  prevailed  during  so  long  a 
period  ;  and  as  the  country  had  been  so  free,  and 
so  happy,  during  the  greater  part  of  that  period. 

But,  Parsons,  has  your  Church  any  such  pre- 
tensions ?  I  have  a  high  opinion  of  that  quality  in 
you,  which  is  usually  denominated  ^^  brass'';  but,  do 
you  pretend  that  this  Establishment  was  founded 
by  Jesus  Christ  and  his  Apostles  ?  Do  you 
pretend  to  hold  your  possessions  immediately  by  a 
grant  from  God  ;  and  that  they  are  as  much  yours 
as  my  life  and  my  limbs  are  mine?  Why,  yes, 
you  are,  at  this  time  (very  curious  to  relate,)  en- 


12  cobbett's  [Letter 

deavouring  to  set  up  a  something  of  these  preten- 
sions; and  are  positively  asserting  that  you  hold 
your  possessions,  and  to  the  exclusion"  too  of  all 
other  Christian  sects,  by  a  right  of  prescription  ; 
that  is  to  say,  a  right  which  existed  before  all  writ- 
ten laws.  This  was  distinctly  stated  by  Sir  Ro- 
bert Peel,  during  the  discussion  of  the  question 
relative  to  the  admission  of  Dissenters  to  take  de- 
grees in  the  Universities.  Quite  enough  had  been 
written  and  published  by  me,  long  before,  to  show 
that  it  was  rapine,  on  the  part  of  those  who  took 
the  Church-property  from  Catholics  and  gave  it  to 
Protestants  ;  that  that  was  an  act  of  rapine,  and 
not  an  act  of  rightful  power,  on  the  part  of  the  Par- 
liament of  that  day,  unless  the  present  Parliament 
had  the  rightful  power  to  take  the  property  from 
the  present  possessors  and  dispose  of  it  at  its  plea- 
sure. Perceiving  the  irresistible  force  of  this  ar- 
gument. Sir  Robert  Peel,  forgetting  all  about 
the  lay-impropriations,  discovered  that  the  Catho- 
lic Church  had  a  prescriptive  right  to  its  posses- 
sions ;  and  that  the  Parliament  had  never  meddled 
with  that  prescriptive  right ;  that  the  Established 
Church  Avas  still,  in  fact,  the  Catholic  Church,  and 
was  merely  reformed ;  and  that  it  was  in  the  pos- 
session of  all  the  prescriptive  rights  which  had  ever 
belonged  to  "  Holy  Church!" 

If  these  were  so  ;  if  you  were  merely  a  reformed 
Catholic  Church,  and  the  regular  successors  of  the 
bishops  and  priests  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  ; 
then  all  the  lay-estates,  in  tithes,  or  in  lands,  which 
were  formerly  possessed  by  your  predecessors,  are 
wholly  destitute  of  a  title  ;  and  the  owners  may, 
any  day,  be  legally  ejected  by  the  King's  Attorney- 
General  ;  and  the  King  may  order  the  estates  to 
be  returned  to  you.     However,  we  are  now  going 


I.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  13 

to  look  at  the  reality ;  we  are  now  going  to  see, 
that,  to  tithes,  to  oblations,  to  bishops'  lands,  to 
college  lands,  to  any  thing  that  you  possess,  as 
clergy  of  the  Church,  you  have  no  prescriptive 
right,  any  more  than  the  Duke  of  Wellington  has 
to  his  estates  of  Strathfieldsaye,  which  he  pos- 
sesses in  virtue  of  an  Act  of  Parliament,  and  sole- 
ly in  virtue  of  that  Act  of  Parliament.  Indeed, 
what  are  the  names,  style,  and  title  of  your 
Church?  Why,  "  The  Protestant  Church  of 
England,  as  by  law  established ;"  not  as  by 
Christ  established ;  not  as  established  by  the 
Apostles.  The  King's  coronation  oath  binds  him 
to  support  the  Protestant  Church  "  as  by  law  es- 
tablished :"  and  this  description  was  invented,  too, 
for  the  express  purpose  of  distinguishing  the  ten- 
ure of  your  Chui;ch  from  that  of  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Church  ;  the  tenure  of  which  was  by  prescrip- 
tion, independent  of  all  written  law.  In  short, 
yours  is  a  church  founded  solely  on  acts  of  the 
Parliament,  sitting  at  Westminster ;  and  we  are 
now  going  to  see  what  those  Acts  of  Parliament 
were  ;  under  what  circumstances  they  were  passed; 
and  the  sort  of  men  by  whom  they  were  passed  ; 
together  with  the  manifest  motives  and  objects  of 
those  men. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church  had  begun  to  have 
its  authority  disputed,  in  some  parts  of  Christen- 
dom, about  the  year  1520.  At  this  time  Henry 
the  Eighth,  for  the  purpose  of  gratifying  his  own 
wicked  passions,  joined  those  who  had  begun  to 
deny  the  authority  of  the  pope  as  head  of  the 
church,  though  he  had  before  written  a  book  in  de- 
fence of  that  authority,  for  which  he  had  received 
the  title  of  "  Defender  of  the  Faith,''''  which  our 
kings  retain  to  this  day,  though  by  their  corona- 
2 


14  cobbett's  [Letter 

tion-oath  they  solemnly  protest  against  that  very 
faith,  of  which  Henry  the  Eighth  was  the  Defend- 
er!  This  monster  of  cruelty  proclaimed  himself 
to  be  the  Supreme  head  of  ChrisVs  Church  m  En- 
gland ;  and  he  put  to  death  hundreds  of  most  vir- 
tuous and  excellent  persons  because  they  would 
not  take  an  oath  recognising  his  spiritual  suprema- 
cy. Finding  his  most  strenuous  opponents  to  be  in 
the  monasteries,  and,  at  the  same  time,  eager  to 
get  hold  of  the  possessions  of  those  monasteries,  as 
the  means  of  bribing  over  to  his  side  the  most  pow- 
erful men  in  the  country,  he  suppressed  ;  that  is  to 
say,  he  confiscated  and  took  possession  of,  all  the 
monasteries  and  all  their  immense  estates.  This 
was  not  done  without  Acts  of  Parliament.  Two 
Acts  were  passed  :  one  in  the  27th  year  of  his 
reign,  and  in  the  year  1535  ;  the  other  in  the  31st 
year  of  his  reign,  and  in  the  year  1539.  These 
Acts  of  the  Parliament  granted  to  him  all  this  great 
mass  of  possessions  ;  and  granted  to  him,  also,  a 
very  considerable  part  of  the  great  tithes  of  the  pa- 
rishes ;  because  the  monasteries  had,  in  many  ca- 
ses, become  both  the  patrons  and  incumbents  of  the 
benefices  of  the  parishes.  Thus,  more  than  a  third 
part  of  the  whole  of  the  real  property  of  the  kingdom 
was  granted  to  him  by  the  Parliament,  with  power 
to  him  to  give  it  away  to  whom  he  pleased;  to  sell 
it,  or  to  exchange  it.  Those  who  passed  these 
Acts  knew  very  well  that  they  should  have  the 
chief  share  of  the  spoil.  He  was  compelled  to  di- 
vide this  spoil  amongst  the  noblemen,  gentlemen, 
and  all  persons  of  great  power  and  influence  in  the 
country  ;  in  order  to  bind  them  up  in  the  same  gir- 
dle with  himself.  This  he  did,  without  loss  of  time, 
and  we  are  now  going  to  see  the  prodigious  effect 
of  this  division  of  the  spoil ;  and  especially  we  are 


I.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  15 

gomg  to  see  its  great  effect  in  the  producing  of 
this  present  Church  of  England,  "  as  by  law  estab- 
lished." 

Amidst  such  assaults  as  these,  it  was  impossible 
that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  should  remain  un- 
shaken. When  men  saw  these  monstrous  acts  of 
what  had  hitherto  vbeen  deemed  sacrilege,  com- 
mitted, not  only  with  impunity,  but  under  the  sanc- 
tion of  law  ;  when  they  saw  a  mere  layman  as- 
sume the  spiritual  supremacy  of  the  Church  of 
Christ ;  when  they  saw  innumerable  persons  put  to 
death  for  refusing  to  swear,  that  they  believed  that 
which  they  had  always  been  taught  to  disbelieve; 
when  they  heard  this  new  head  of  the  Church  pro- 
claiming one  sort  of  creed  one  day,  and  another 
sort  of  creed  another  day  ;  when  they  saw  him 
burning  Protestants  and  Catholics  at  the  same 
stake ;  and  still  heard  him  call  himself  a  Catholic 
king,  and  a  spiritual  head  of  the  Church  at  the 
same  time  :  amidst  all  these  things,  it  was  impossi- 
ble that  men  could  retain  anything  like  an  unity  of 
faith  :  it  was  impossible  that  the  nation  should  not 
be  split  up  into  a  diversity  of  sects  ;  that  each  man 
should  not  claim  a  right  to  think  and  decide  for 
himself  in  religious  matters  ;  and  this  actually  was 
the  state  of  England  in  this  respect,  at  the  time  of 
the  death  of  this  merciless  tyrant,  which  took  place 
in  the  year  1.547^  when  he  expired,  in  the  fifty-sixth 
year  of  his  age,  and  in  the  thirty-eighth  of  his  reign, 
the  most  unjust,  hard-hearted,  meanest,  and  most 
sanguinary  tyrant,  that  the  world  had  ever  beheld, 
whether  Christian  or  Heathen.  As  long  as  this  ty- 
rant existed,  the  holders  of  confiscated  Church- 
property,  which  was  also  the  ^patrimony  of  the  poor, 
at  the  same  time,  were  safe  in  their  possessions,  un- 
der his  sort  of  mongrel  Catholic  Church  ;  but,  when 


16  cobbett's  [Letter 

his  son,  Edward  the  Sixth  (a  mere  boy,)  succeed- 
ed him,  and  the  government  was  to  be  carrried  on 
by  guardians  and  trustees,  there  was  great  danger 
that  the  people  would  resume  their  rights,  at  any 
rate  ;  that  the  Pope  would,  in  a  short  time,  resume 
his  power  in  England,  where  the  parish-priests 
were  still  Catholic ;  and  if  he  resumed  his  power, 
the  sharers  in  the  plunder  were  in  a  perilous  state, 
as  far  as  related  to  that  plunder.  Therefore,  in 
order  to  obviate  this  danger,  it  was  necessary  to  ab- 
rogate, to  put  down  by  Act  of  Parliament,  to  efface, 
forever,  if  possible,  the  Catholic  religion  in  Eng- 
land. And,  Parsons,  look  at  the  thing  well ;  for 
here  you  will  find  the  first,  the  great,  the  all  power- 
ful, motive  for  making  the  Protestant  Church,  "  as 
by  law  established."  If  men  had  been  left  without 
any  law  to  compel  them  to  submit  to  any  particu- 
lar church,  they  who  had  never  had  an  idea  of 
tithes,  oblations,  or  Church-land  rents,  payable  to 
mere  laymen,  never  could  have  long  submitted  to 
such  payment.  Nothing  but  the  axes  and  the  hal- 
ters, and  the  fires  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  could 
have  induced  them  to  submit  to  this.  It  was 
therefore,  necessary  to  make  another  Church  ;  and  tf^ 
give  to  that  Church  all  the  powers,  all  the  exclu- 
sive benefits,  all  the  protection,  and  all  the  advanta 
ges,  necessary  to  make  it  a  valuable  thing  to  those 
who  would  necessarily  have  its  patronage  exclu- 
sively in  their  hands. 

With  these  motives  in  their  minds,  and  these  ob 
jects  before  them,  the  nobility,  the  powerful  gentry, 
to  name  them  by  one  word,  the  aristocracy,  hav- 
ing got  rid  of  the  old  tyrant,  and  his  mongrel  Ca- 
tholic religion,  resolved  to  make  a  new  Church,  by 
law,  and  a  Protestant  Church,  in  order  that  the 
Pope  might  never  come  and  instigate  the  people  to 


I.j  I.EGA.CY   TO  PA'JiSOXS.  17 

make  them  restore  the  landed  Wtates  and  the  tithes, 
which  they  had  got  into  their  possession  by  grants 
from  the  barbarous  old  tyrant.  In  their  execution 
of  this  design,  this  nation  witnessed  scenes  never 
before  witnessed  in  the  world;  such  insincerity; 
such  barefaced  apostacy  ;  such  greediness  ;  such  in- 
justice ;  such  defiance  of  every  sentiment  of  mo- 
rality, and  every  sentiment  of  religion  ;  such  pros- 
tration of  character;  as  cannot  be  described  by 
tongue,  or  pen,  except  in  faithfully  relating  the 
facts ;  and  it  would  be  wise  in  you,  Parsons,  never 
to  direct  our  eyes  back  to  the  origin  of  this 
Church,  as  by  law  established.  The  Catholics  as- 
sert that  their  Church  originated  with  Christ  and 
his  Apostles :  yours  originated  with  the  aristocra- 
cy of  England,  whose  conduct,  in  the  making  of 
this  Church,  we  have  now  to  survey  ;  we  have  now 
to  look  at  it,  in  its  true  colours,  be  the  effects  in  our 
minds  what  they  may. 

The  motives  for  m^aking  the  Church  I  have  de- 
scribed ;  and  now  we  have  to  see  something  of  the 
manner  of  making  it.  The  first  step  was  by  act  of 
Parliament,  1st  year  of  Edward  the  Sixth,  chapter 
1  ;  and  in  the  year  1547.  This  is  an  Act  to  punish 
people  for  speakincr  irreverently  against  the  sacra- 
ment, taken  in  hoth  kinds,  which  was  contrary  to 
the  practice  of  the  Catholic  Church.  The  pream- 
ble of  the  Art  tells  us,  that  this  new  practice  had 
been  ridiculed  by  the  people  "  in  dialogues,  rhymes, 
songs,  plays,  and  jests."  The  sharers  of  the  spoil 
of  the  Church  and  the  poor  v.ere  by  no  means  dis- 
posed to  suffer  songs  and  jests  upon  the  subject. 
They,  therefore,  enacted,  that  these  rhymsters  and 
singers  should  suffer  "imprisonment  of  their  bo- 
dies, and  fines,  at  the  king's  will  and  pleasure." 
Though  this  was  wholly  a  new  thing ;  quite  con- 
2* 


18  cobbett's  [Letter 

trary  to  the  faith  aiid  practice  of  the  people  and 
of  their  forefathers  for  nine  hundred  years  ;  a  new 
invention,  oversetting  the  main  pillar  of  their  faith. 
This  monstrous  severity  was  followed  by  an  enact- 
ment, giving  a  new  interpretation  to  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  and  containing  an  assertion  laid  down 
by  mere  laymen,  that  both  the  bread  and  the  wine 
were  necessary  to  be  taken.  But,  this  was  only  a 
little  beginning  ;  this  was  only  a  foretaste  of  that 
which  was  to  come  :  it  was  a  preparhig  of  the  way 
for  the  making  of  this  Church,  the  fate  of  which  is 
now  to  be  decided. 

In  the  second  year  of  the  reign  of  this  boy  king 
(who  was  now  only  eleven  years  old,)  who  was,  at 
once,  supreme  spiritual  head  of  the  Church,  and 
secular  sovereign  of  the  State,  this  Protestant 
Church  and  religion  were  established.  The  Ro- 
man Catholic  religion  having  been  abrogated  ;  ha- 
ving been  protested  against,  and  declared  to  be 
idolatrous  and  damnable,  all  men  were  let  loose  to 
choose  for  themselves,  each  having  the  Bible  in  his 
hands.  One  sect  had  as  much  right  to  the  churches 
and  the  tithes  as  another  sect ;  but  this  would  never 
have  done  for  the  aristocracy.  The  remaining 
tithes,  the  oblations,  the  bishop's  lands,  the  college 
lands :  these  were  too  valuable  to  be  suffered  to  be 
scrambled  for  ;  and  though  the  aristocracy  had  pro- 
tested against  that  Church,  to  which  they  had  be- 
longed, and  for  the  support  of  which  they  had  been 
given,  still  they  had  no  quarrel  with  the  things 
themselves  :  they  had  not  protested  against  the 
tithes,  and  the  lands,  and  the  oblations  ;  they  had 
only  protested  against  their  being  in  hands  other 
than  their  own.  The  Catholic  religion  was  idola- 
trous and  damnable  ;  but  they  saw  nothing  either 
idolatrous  or  damnable,    in  the   lands,  the  tithes. 


I.J  LEGACY  TO   PARSONS.  19 

and  the  oblations.  These,  tlierefore,  they  resolved 
to  keep  ;  but  to  keep  them,  they  must  have  another 
Church  ;  and  to  that  Church  all  must  yield  tithes 
and  oblations,  however  contrary  its  creeds  might 
be  to  the  faith  which  the  Scriptures  taught  them  to 
adopt,  or  which  they  had  been  taught  by  their  fa- 
thers from  generation  to  generation.  The  pream- 
ble of  the  Act  of  Parliament  (1st  and  2nd  Edward 
the  Sixth)  tells  us,  that  "  the  king,  in  his  great 
goodness,  has  appointed  the  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury (Cranmer,)  and  others,  to  draw,  and 
make,  one  meet  order,  rite,  and  fashion,  of  common 
and  open  Prayer,  and  Administration  of  Sacra- 
ments, to  be  had,  and  used  in  his  Majesty's  realm 
of  England  and  Wales  ;  the  which,  at  this  time,  by 
AID  OF  THE  Holy  Ghost,  with  one  uniform  agree- 
ment is  of  them  concluded,  set  forth,  and  delivered 
to  his  Highness"  {eleven  years  of  age,)  "  to  his 
great  comfort  and  quietness  of  mind,  intituled.  The 
Book  of  Common  Prayer  and  Administration  of 
the  Sacraments,  and  other  Rites  and  Ceremonies 
of  the  Church,  after' the  use  of  the  Church  of  En- 
gland. Wherefore,  the  Lords  Spiritual  and  Tem- 
poral in  this  present  Parliament  assembled,  con- 
sidering, as  well  the  most  godly  tra^  el  of  the  king's 
highness"  [eleven  years  of  age.)  "  of  the  Lord  Pro- 
tector, and  of  other,  his  Highness's  council,  in  gath- 
ering and  collecting  the  said  Archbishop  and  learned 
men  together,  as  the  godly  Prayers,  Rites,  and 
Ceremonies,  in  the  said  book  mentioned ;  and  the 
considerations  of  altering  those  things  which  he  al- 
tered, and  retaining  those  things  which  he  retained 
in  the  said  book,  but  also  the  honour  of  God  and 
great  quietness,  which,  by  the  grace  of  God,  shall 
ensue,  do  give  his  Highness  most  hearty  and  lowly 
thanks  for  the  same." 


20  cobbett's  [Letter 

Bearing  in  mind  this  assertion  about  the  aid  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  in  this  work,  let  us  now  come  to 
the  enncimeiits.  You,  Parsons,  found  the  Church's 
prescriptive  rights  upon  the  assertion,  that  there 
never  was  any  Act  of  Parliament  for  taking  the 
benefices  away  from  the  Catholics,  and  giving  them 
to  the  Protestants ;  that  the  Catholic  parish-priests 
were  never  ousted  from  their  benefices  by  Act  of 
Parliament ;  that  they  became  converted  in  their 
several  parishes  ;  or  continued  to  exercise  their 
functions  as  before,  till  the  day  of  their  death  ;  or 
that  they  went  away  from  their  benefices  without 
force :  so  that,  as  they  had,  unquestionably,  a  pre- 
scriptive right  to  their  benefices,  the  present  par- 
sons stand  fairly  in  their  shoes,  and  have  a  pre- 
scriptive right  too.  Now,  then,  let  us  see  how 
this  matter  stands.  The  king  had  put  forth  a  book 
of  Homilies  and  a  Catechism.  Priests  had  been 
permitted  to  marry  ;  and  an  Act  was  soon  after 
passed  (2nd  and  3d  Edward  the  Sixth,  chap.  21)  to 
allow  priests  to  m.arry.  Every  inducement  had  been 
ofiered  to  withdraw  the  parish-priests  from  their  re- 
ligion ;  but  still,  with  very  few  scandalous  excep- 
tions, they  remained  firm  in  their  faith  and  their 
practice,  at  the  time  of  the  passing  of  this  Act. 
The  Act,  therefore,  provided,  that,  if  any  rector, 
vicar,  perpetual  curate,  or  other  priest,  with  bene- 
fice, should  in  future  say  mass  in  the  usual  manner, 
and  not  use  the  Common  Prayer  Book,  he  should 
forfeit  to  the  king  one  year's  revenue  of  his  bene- 
fice, and  be  imprisoned  for  six  months  ;  that  for  a  se- 
cond offence,  he  should  be  deprived  of  his  benefice, 
and  of  all  his  spiritual  promotions,  and  be  impri- 
soned for  one  whole  year ;  for  a  third  offence,  im- 
prisonment during  his  natural  life ;  that,  if  the 
priest  had  no  benefice,  he  should  be  imprisoned  for 


I.]  LEGACY    TO    PARSONS.  21 

six  months  for  the  first  offence ;  and  for  the  second 
offence,  should  be  imprisoned  for  his  natural  life  ! 
Thus  did  this  gentle  Christian  Church  begin  ;  thus 
did  the  Angel  of  Charity,  Humility,  and  Humanity, 
preside  at  her  birth.  But  the  Act  did  not  stop  here, 
it  went  on  to  the  laity  ;  and  it  enacted,  that  if  any 
one  should,  by  interludes,  plays,  songs,  rhymes,  or 
by  other  open  words,  declare,  or  speak  any  thing 
in  derogation,  depraving,  or  despising,  the  said 
Book  of  Common  Prayer,  penalty  after  penalty 
were  to  follow,  till  at  last  came  forfeiture  of  goods 
and  chattels  to  the  king,  and  imprisonment  during 
the  natural  life  of  the  party  ! 

Here  we  have  a  faithful  account  of  the  BIRTH 
of  this  famous  Church,  which  simply  put  it  to  the 
priests  and  the  people:  ^^  Here  is  this  Church; 
take  it;  or,  take  pecuniary  ruin  and  imprison- 
ment for  life;''  and  in  the  face  of  these  undenia- 
ble facts,  is  there  any  one  base  enough  to  say,  that 
the  Catholic  priests  were  not  ousted  by  force  and 
by  Act  of  Parliament  ?  The  Act  provides  for  the 
depriving  of  the  party  of  his  benefice,  and  of  all 
spiritual  promotion  whatever,  unless  he  apostatize 
from  the  Catholic  religion  ;  and  it  authorizes  pa- 
trons to  appoint  Protestant  ministers  to  succeed 
him,  in  just  the  same  manner  as  if  he  were  dead. 
Will  Sir  Robert  Peel  call  this  "  a  reformed  Ca- 
tholic church,"  then  ?  Will  he  again  say,  that  the 
Protestant  parsons  stand  in  the  prescriptive  shoes 
of  the  Catholic  priests  ? 

But,  the  reader  will  say,  did  this  Common  Pray- 
er Book  always  continue  in  use,  after  this  Act 
was  passed  ?  Oh  no  !  And  now  we  have  to  see 
what  sort  of  men  those  were  who  made  this  new 
Church,  and  to  see  well  what  their  motives  were* 


2^  cobbett's  [Letter 

For  very  much  depends  upon  this,  when  we  are  es- 
timating the  character  of  this  Church. 

This  church-making  king  died  at  the  end  of  about 
seven  years,  and  was  succeeded  on  the  throne  by 
his  sister  Mary,  who  was  a  Catholic ;  and  who, 
proceeding  upon  the  settled  constitution  and  laws 
of  the  country,  resolved  upon  restoring  the  Catho- 
lic religion.  The  Common  Prayer  Book  aristocra- 
cy, exceedingly  alarmed  at  this  prospect;  not  so 
much  alarmed,  however,  for  the  almost  certain  loss 
of  the  Common  Prayer  Book  and  the  new  Church, 
as  for  the  possible,  and  even  probable,  loss  of  that 
immense  mass  of  property  of  the  Church  and  the 
poor,  which  they  had  got  into  their  possession,  by 
the  means  before  mentioned,  entered  into  a  negoti- 
ation with  the  queen,  agreeing  to  give  up  their 
Common  Prayer  Book  and  their  Protestant  religi- 
on ;  agreeing  to  bring  back  the  Catholic  religion 
into  the  country,  and  to  punish  parsons  for  not 
being  Catholics,  as  they  had  punished  them  before 
for  not  being  Protestants ;  agreeing  to  confess 
themselves  to  have  been  schismatics;  agreeing  to 
receive  absolution  from  the  Pope,  for  having  re- 
belled against  his  authority  ;  agreeing  to  reinstate 
him  in  all  his  power  in  England,  which  they  before 
designated  as  abominable  usurpations ;  agreeing, 
above  all  things,  to  abrogate  as  schismatical  that 
very  Common  Prayer  Book  which  they  had  before 
declared,  in  the  preamble  to  an  Act  of  Parliament, 
to  have  been  composed  by  the  "  aid  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,"  and  which  was,  they  said,  made  "  to  the 
honour  of  God ;"  agreeing  to  all  this,  if  the  queen 
would  obtain  the  consent  of  the  Pope,  and  give  her 
own  consent,  to  suffer  them,  to  keep  the  immense 
masses  of  property  in  land  and  in  tithes,  which, 
during  the  two  preceding  reigns,  they  had  grasped 


I.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  23 

from  the  Church  and  the  poor  I  This  is  something 
so  monstrous,  that  I  would  venture  to  state  it  upon 
no  authority  short  of  that  of  an  Act  of  Parliament ; 
and  yet  it  is  by  no  means  the  worst  that  we  have  to 
behold  on  the  part  of  tliese  men  who  called  them- 
selves noblemen  and  gentlemen,  and  whose  descend- 
ants cooly  assume  the  same  appellations  ! 

-As  a  sort  of  prelude  to  the  monstrous  acts,  which 
they  were  about  to  perform,  they  passed,  almost  as 
soon  as  Mary  was  upon  the  throne,  an  Act  to  re- 
peal the  whole  of  the  famous  Act,  making  the  Com- 
mon  Prayer  Book  ;  and  that  too  upon  the  ground, 
that  it  was  contrary  to  the  true  religion  ;  though 
they  alleged  that  they  had  been  assisted  by  the  Ho- 
ly Ghost,  in  the  making  of  that  Book  of  Common 
Prayer  !  They  abolished  all  the  penalties  for  per- 
sons acting  plays,  singing  songs,  ridiculing  the  new 
religion;  they  repealed  the  law  for  preventing  ima- 
ges being  put  up  in  churches  ;  they  repealed  the  law 
permitting  priests  to  marry  ;  they  swept  away,  by 
this  Act  of  Parliament,  every  vestige  of  the  Protes- 
tant Church  service,  and  reinstated  the  service  of 
the  Catholic  religion  ;  brought  in  again  the  singing 
of  the  mass  in  all  the  churches  and  chapels :  and 
this  too  upon  the  express  ground  that  they  had 
been  for  years  wandering  in  error  and  in  schism ; 
though,  never  forget,  that  they  asserted  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  had  assisted  them  in  making  their 
Common  Prayer  Book  ! 

This,  however,  was  only  a  beginning.  Having 
made  their  bargain  to  keep  the  lands  and  the  tithes, 
which  they  had  taken  from  the  Church  and  the 
Poor,  they  petitioned  the  Queen  to  intercede  with 
the  Pope  to  forgive  them  for  all  the  sins  which 
they  had  committed  against  him,  and  against  the 
Catholic  faith  ;  to  "  assoil,  discharge,   and  deliver 


24  cobbett's  [Letter 

them  from  all  ecclesiastical  excommunications,  in 
terdictions,  and  censures,  hanging  over  their  heads, 
for  their  faults  during  the  schism :  and  to  take 
them  again  into  the  bosom  of  Holy  Church."  The 
Queen,  detesting  the  monsters  in  her  heart,  no 
doubt,  consented,  and  obtained  the  Pope's  consent, 
to  let  them  keep  the  lands  and  the  tithes  ;  not  be- 
cause it  was  right,  but  because  it  was  thought  to 
be  an  evil  less  than  that  of  a  civil  war,  which  might 
have  been  produced  by  a  rejection  of  the  terms  of 
this  agreement.  Having  obtained  the  security, 
Cardinal  Pole  was  sent  over  by  the  Pope,  as  his 
legate,  authorized  to  give  them  pardon  and  absolu- 
tion. To  work  they  went,  instantly,  to  repeal  every 
act  made,  after  Henry  the  Eighth  began  his  rebel- 
lion against  the  Pope  ;  every  act  at  all  trenching  on 
the  papal  authority ;  but  taking  special  care  in  the 
same  Act  to  secure  to  themselves  the  safe  posses- 
sion of  all  the  property  of  the  Church  and  the  Poor, 
which  they  had  grasped,  during  the  reigns  of  Henry 
and  of  Edward.  Though,  I  say  I  am  referring  to 
Acts  of  Parliament,  and  though  the  reader  will, 
upon  reflection,  know  that  I  should  not  dare  to  state 
the  substance  of  those  acts  untruly,  still  I  cannot 
give  an  adequate  idea  of  the  character  of  these  Pro- 
testant church-makers,  without  taking  their  own 
words,  as  I  find  them  in  the  preamble  to  this  Act, 
1st  and  2nd  of  Mary,  chapter  8;  and  when  I  read 
it,  I  always  wonder  that  some  scheme  or  other  has 
not  been  invented  for  the  obliterating,  for  the  era- 
sing, from  the  statute-book,  words  so  dishonourable, 
so  indelibly  infamous. 

"  Whereas,  since  the  twentieth  year  of  King 
Henry  the  Eighth  of  famous  Memory,  Father  unto 
your  Majesty  our  most  natural  Sovereign,  and  gra- 
cious Lady  and  Queen,   much  false  and  erroneous 


I.]  LEGACY    TO    PARSON'S.  25 

Doctrine  hath  been  taught,  preached  and  written, 
partly  by  •  divers  the  natural-born  subjects  of  this 
Realm,  and  partly  being  brought  in  hither  from 
sundry  other  Foreign  countries,  hath  been  sowen 
and  spread  abroad  within  the  same  :  By  reason 
whereof,  as  well  the  Spirituality  as  the  Temporality 
of  your  Highness'  Realms  and  Dominions  have 
swerved  from  the  obedience  of  the  See  Apostolick, 
and  declined  from  the  Unity  of  Christ's  Church, 
and  so  have  continued,  until  such  Time  as  your 
Majesty  being  first  raised  up  by  God,  and  set  in  the 
seat  Royal  over  us,  and  then  by  his  Divine  and 
gracious  Providence  knit  in  Marriage  with  the 
most  noble  and  virtuous  Prince  the  King  our  Sove- 
reign Lord  your  Husband,  the  Pope's  Holiness  and 
the  See  Apostolick  sent  hither  unto  your  Majesties 
(as  unto  Persons  undefiled,  and  by  God's  goodness 
preserved  from  the  common  Infection  aforesaid) 
and  to  the  whole  Realm,  the  most  Reverend  Father 
in  God  the  Lord  Cardinal  Pole,  Legate  de  latere, 
to  call  us  home  again  into  the  right  way  from 
whence  we  have  all  this  long  while  wandered  and 
strayed  abroad  ;  and  we,  after  sundry  long  and 
grievous  plagues  and  calamities,  seeing  by  the 
Goodness  of  God  our  own  errors,  have  acknowledged 
the  same  unto  the  said  most  Reverend  Father,  and 
by  him  have  been  and  are  the  rather  at  the  contem- 
plation of  your  Majesties,  received  and  embraced 
unto  the  Unity  and  Bosom  of  Christ's  Church,  and 
upon  our  humble  submission  and  promise  made  for 
a  Declaration  of  our  Repentance,  to  repeal  and 
abrogate  such  Acts  and  Statutes  as  had  been  made 
in  Parliament  since  the  said  twentieth  year  of  the 
said  King  Henry  the  Eighth,  against  the  Supremacy 
of  the  See  Apostolick,  as  in  our  Submission  exhib- 
ited to  the  said  most  Reverend  Father  in  God  by 
3 


36  cobbett's  [Letter 

your  Majesties  appearetn  :    The  Tenour  whereof 
ensueth. 

"  We  the  Lords  Spiritual  and  Temporal  and  the 
Commons,  assembled  in  this  present  Parliament, 
representing  the  whole  Body  of  the  Realm  of  Eng- 
land^ and  the  Dominions  of  the  same,  in  the  Name 
of  ourselves  particularly,  and  also  of  the  said  Body 
universally,  in  this  our  supplication  directed  to  your 
Majesties,  with  most  humble  suit,  that  it  may  by 
your  Graces  Intercession  and  mean  be  exhibited  to 
the  most  Reverend  Father  in  God,  the  Lord  Cardi- 
nal Pole,  Legate,  sent  specially  hither  from  our 
most  Holy  Father  Pope  Julian  the  Third  and  the 
See  Apostolick  of  Rome,  do  declare  ourselves  ver^- 
sorry  and  repentant  of  the  Schism  and  Disobedience 
committed  in  this  Realm  and  Dominions  aforesaid 
against  the  See  Apostolick,  either  by  making, 
agreeing,  or  executing  any  Law^s,  Ordinances  or 
Commandments,  against  the  Supremacy  of  the  said 
See,  or  otherwise  doing  or  speaking,  that  might 
impugn  the  same  :  Offering  ourselves  and  promising 
by  this  our  Supplication,  that  for  a  Token  and 
Know^ledge  of  our  said  repentance,  w^e  be  and  shall 
be  always  ready,  under  and  with  the  Authorities  of 
your  Majesties,  to  the  uttermost  of  our  powers,  to 
do  that  shall  lie  in  us  for  the  Abrogation  and  Re- 
pealing of  the  said  Laws  and  Ordinances,  in  this 
present  Parliament,  as  well  for  ourselves  as  for  the 
whole  Body  whom  we  represent :  Whereupon  we 
most  humbly  desire  your  Majesties,  as  Personages 
undefiled  in  the  Offence  of  this  Body  towards  the 
said  See,  which  nevertheless  God  by  his  Providence 
hath  made  subject  to  you,  so  to  set  forth  this  oui 
humble  Suit,  that  we  may  obtain  from  the  See 
Apostolick,  by  the  said  most  Reverend  Father,  as 
well  particularly   and  generally,  Absolution,   Re- 


I.]  LEGACY    TO    PARSONS.  27 

lesLse  and  Discharge  from  all  Danger  of  such  Cen- 
sures and  Sentences,  as  by  the  Laws  of  the  Church 
we  be  fallen  into  ;  and  that  we  may  as  Children 
repentant  be  received  into  the  Bosom  and  Unity  of 
Christ's  Church,  so  as  this  noble  Realm,  with  all 
the  members  thereof,  may  in  this  Unity  and  perfect 
Obedience  to  the  See  Apostolick,  and  Popes  for  the 
time  being,  serve  God  and  your  Majesties,  to  the 
furtherance  and  advancement  of  his  Honour  and 
Glory.  We  are,  at  the  intercession  of  your  Majes- 
ties, by  the  authority  of  our  holy  Father  Pope 
Julian  the  Third  and  of  the  See  Apostolick,  assoiled, 
discharged  and  delivered  from  the  Excommunica- 
tions, Interdictions,  and  other  Censures  Ecclesias- 
tical, which  hath  hanged  over  our  heads,  for  our 
said  defaults,  since  the  Time  of  the  said  Schism 
mentioned  in  our  Supplication :  It  may  now  like 
your  Majesties,  that  for  the  Accomplishment  of  our 
Promise  made  in  the  said  Supplication,  that  is,  to 
repeal  all  the  Laws  and  Statutes  made  contrary  to 
the  said  Supremacy  and  See  Apostolick,  during  the 
said  Schism,  the  which  is  to  be  understood  since 
the  twentieth  year  of  the  reign  of  the  snid  late  King 
Henry  the  Eighth,  and  so  the  said  Lord  Legate  doth 
accept  and  recognise  the  same." 

After  this  most  solemn  recantation  ;  after  this 
appeal  to  God  for  the  sincerity  of  their  repentance, 
they  proceeded  to  enact  the  repeal  of  every  Act  that 
had  ever  been  passed  to  infringe  upon  the  supre- 
macy or  authority  of  the  Pope  ;  they,  in  the  most 
express  and  solemn  manner,  enacted  that  no  king 
or  queen  of  England  was  ever,  or  ever  co^ild  be  the 
head  of  the  Church  ;  or  had,  or  ever  could  have, 
any  pretension  to  a  riffht  of  supremacy  in  regard  to 
the  Church.  But,  in  the  same  Act  of  Parliament, 
every  sentence  of  which  makes  one  shudder  as  ope 


28  cobbett's  [Letter 

reads  it,  they  took  special  care,  while  they  ac- 
knowledged the  act  of  plunder,  to  secure  to  them- 
selves, by  clause  upon  clause,  the  uninterrupted 
possession  of  that  third  part  of  the  property  of  the 
kingdom,  which  they  had  grasped  from  the  Church 
and  the  poor ! 

But,  at  any  rate,  they  were  now  Catholics  again  ; 
they  were  once  more  Roman  Catholics.  They  had 
been  born  and  bred  Roman  Catholics  ;  they  had 
apostatized,  and  protested  against  the  faith  of  their 
fathers,  for  the  purpose  of  getting  possession  of  a 
large  part  of  the  property  of  the  kingdom  ;  but 
having  now  made  safe  the  possession  of  this  enor- 
mous mass  of  plunder  ;  and  having,  nevertheless, 
been  absolved  of  their  sins,  and  taken  back  into  the 
bosom  of  the  Church,  they,  surely,  now  remained 
Roman  Catholics  to  the  end  of  their  days?  Not 
they,  indeed;  for  the  moment  the  death  of  Mary 
took  place,  which  was  in  1558,  that  is  to  say,  at  the 
end  of  five  years,  they  undid  all  that  they  had  done  in 
the  time  of  Mary  ;  apostatized  again,  and  declared 
their  abhorrence  of  that  Church,  into  the  bosom  of 
which  they  had  so  recently  thanked  the  Queen  for 
having  interceded  with  the  Pope  to  receive  them  ! 

This  would  not,  and  could  not,  be  believed,  if  it 
were  not  upon  record  in  the  Statute  Book,  which 
cannot  lie,  in  this  case  ;  and  which  contains  in  this 
case,  too,  the  law  as  we  have  now  to  obey  it.  Eliza- 
beth, the  immediate  successor  of  Mary,  was  a 
Catholic  herself,  by  profession  and  public  worship  ; 
she  was  crowned  by  a  Catholic  bishop  ;  her  mani- 
fest intention,  at  first,  was  to  maintain  the  Catholic 
religion :  but  she  was  a  bastard,  according  to 
the  law,  she  having  been  born  of  another  woman, 
while  her  father's  first  wife  was  still  alive  ;  besides 
which,   an   Act   had  been  passed  in   her   father's 


1.]  LEGACY    TO    PARSON'S.  29 

life-time,  declaring  her  to  be  a  bastard.  All  this 
would  not  have  signified  much  ;  but  the  Pope  would 
not  recognise  her  legitimacy  ;  and  of  course  would 
not  acknowledge  her  right  to  reign  as  Queen  ot 
England.  Finding  this,  she  resolved  to  be  Pro- 
testant ;  and  resolved  that  her  people  should  be 
Protestant,  too.  The  very  first  Act  of  Parlia- 
ment of  her  reign,  therefore  swept  away  the 
whole  that  had  been  done  during  the  reign  of 
Mary;  and  the  Act  (1st  of  Elizabeth,  chapter 
1)  repealed  the  whole  of  the  Act  of  which  I 
have  just  quoted  the  memorable  preamble,  except 
only  those  parts  of  it  which  secured  the  plunder  of 
the  Church  and  the  poor  to  those  who  had  got  pos- 
session of  it ;  and  those  same  men,  who  had  so  re- 
cently received  absolution  from  the  Pope,  for  hav- 
ing acknowledged  the  ecclesiastical  supremacy  to 
be  in  the  king,  now  enacted,  that  that  supremacy 
had  always  belonged  to  the  king :  that  it  never  had 
belonged  to  the  Pope  ;  that  the  Pope  had  usurped 
it ;  and  they  even  went  so  far  now  as  to  exact  an 
OATH  from  every  Englishman,  if  the  Queen  chose 
to  require  it,  declaring  a  firm  belief  in  this  supre- 
macy of  the  Queen  !  The  oath  (in  use  to  this  day) 
begins  thus,  "  I,  A.  B.,  do  utterly  declare  and  tes- 
tify in  my  conscience,  that  the  Queen's  Highness  is 
the  only  supreme  governor  of  this  realm,  as  well  in 
all  spiritual  and  ecclesiastical  things,  or  causes,  as 
temporal  !"  An  oath  was  novr  to  come  to  re-assert 
that,  v.'hich  these  very  men  had  supplicated  pardon 
and  absolution  from  the  Pope,  and  prayed  for  for- 
giveness to  God,  for  having  asserted  before  ! 

But  the   second  Act   (1st  Elizabeth,  chapter  2) 
brought  back  the  Prayer  Book  again.      The  horri- 
ble men,  whose  conduct  we  have  been   reviewing, 
had  condemned  their  Prayer  Book  as  schismatical ; 
3* 


30  cobbett's  [Letter 

had  abolished  it  by  their  Acts  ;  and  had  reinstated 
Catholic  priests  in  the  churches.  They  now,  in 
the  act  of  which  I  am  speaking,  ousted  them  again  ; 
re-enacted  the  Common  Prayer  Book  ;  and  inflicted 
penalties  upon  the  priests  who  should  refuse  to 
apostatize  by  becoming  Protestants  and  using  this 
book  in  their  churches.  For  the  first  offence,  such 
priest  was  to  forfeit  a  year's  revenue  of  his  bene- 
fice, and  be  imprisoned  for  six  months.  For  a  se- 
cond offence  he  was  to  lose  all  his  ecclesiastical 
preferments  and  possessions,  and  was,  besides,  to 
be  imprisoned  during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  If 
he  were  a  priest  without  benefice,  he  was  to  be  im- 
prisoned, for  the  first  offence,  during  a  Avhole  year  ; 
for  the  second  offence  imprisoned  during  his  whole 
life.  For  speaking  in  derogation  of  the  Prayer 
Book  ;  or  to  ridicule  the  new  religion,  by  songs, 
plays,  jests,  of  any  sort,  the  offender  was  to  forfeit 
a  hundred  marks  for  the  first  offence;  four  hundred 
marks  for  the  second  offence  (equal  to  two  thou- 
sand pounds  of  the  money  of  this  day  ;)  and,  for 
the  third  offence,  to  forfeit  to  the  Queen  all  his 
goods  and  chattels,  and  be  imprisoned  for  life. 
Every  person  was  compelled  on  Sundays,  and  holy- 
days,  to  attend  at  the  Church,  to  hear  this  common 
prayer,  under  various  pecuniary  penalties,  and,  in 
failure  of  paying  the  penalties,  to  be  imprisoned. 
Bishops,  Archdeacons,  and  other  ordinaries,  were 
to  have  power  for  inflicting  these  punishments. 
This  Act  of  confiscation,  of  ruin,  of  stripes,  of  death, 
was  enforced  with  all  the  rigour  that  imagination 
can  conceive.  The  Queen  reigned  for  forty-five 
years,  and  these  forty-five  years  were  spent  in 
deeds  of  such  cruelty,  as  the  world  had  never  heard 
of  or  read  of  before  ;  and  all  for  the  purpose  of 
compelling  her  people  to  submit  to  this  established 


I.]  LEGACY    TO    PARSONS.  31 

Church.  With  regard  to  the  cruelties  of  this  mon- 
ster in  woman's  shape  ;  her  butcherings  ;  her  rip- 
pings-up  ;  her  tearing-out  of  the  bowels  of  her  sub- 
jects ;  her  racks  ;  her  torments,  of  every  descrip- 
tion, in  which  she  was  always  cordially  supported 
by  the  law-giving  makers  of  the  Prayer  Book,  I 
must  refer  the  reader  to  my  "  History  of  the  Pro- 
testant Reformation  ;"  suffice  it  to  say,  that,  in 
these  forty-five  years  which  were  employed  in  the 
establishing  of  this  Church,  there  were  more  cruelty, 
more  bloodshed,  more  suffering,  than  ever  were 
witnessed  in  the  world,  in  any  other  country,  in  a 
like  period  of  time. 

The  main  thing,  however,  to  be  kept  in  view 
here,  is  the  fact,  which  all  these  Acts  of  Parliament 
so  fully  confirm,  that  this  Church  was  created  by 
Acts  of  Parliament ;  that  it  has  no  existence  as  a 
church  ;  that  it  has  no  rite,  no  ceremony,  no  creed, 
no  article  of  faith,  which  has  not  sprung  out  of  an 
Act  of  the  Parliament ;  and  that  there  is  nothing  of 
prescription  belonging  to  it,  from  its  first  being 
named  amongst  men,  until  the  present  hour. 

It  is  not,  by  any  means,  when  we  are  examining 
into  the  origin,  and  the  pretended  unalienable  rights 
of  this  Church  ;  it  is  not,  by  any  means,  unneces- 
sary to  look  well  at  the  conduct  and  character  of 
those  parliaments,  who  passed  the  several  Acts,  by 
which  the  Church  vvas  made.  It  Vvas  manifestly 
not  made  by  CnkisT  and  his  apostles.  It  is  certain 
that  it  was  made  by  Acts  of  Parliament ;  but,  if 
those  who  composed  those  parliaments,  had  been 
men  resembling  the  fathers  of  the  Church  ;  if  they 
had  been  men  of  acknowledged  piety  and  disinte- 
restedness, their  character  would  have  thrown  a 
sort  of  lustre  over  the  thing  that  they  had  made  ; 
but  when  we  find  them  begin  by  an  act  of  plunder, 


32  cobbett's  (Letter 

so  great  as  to  be  almost  incredible  ;  when  we  see 
them  remain  Catholics  till  this  plunder  became  in 
danger,  by  the  existence  of  that  religion  ;  when  we 
see  them  turn  Protestants,  and  make  the  Church 
and  its  Prayer-book,  and  ascribe  the  success  of  the 
undertaking  to  the  aid  given  them  by  the  Holy  Ghost; 
when  we  afterwards  see  them  abolishing  this  Pray- 
er-book, declaring  it  to  have  been  schismatical,  sup- 
plicating a  Catholic  queen  to  interfere  with  the  Pope 
for  pardon  for  having  made  it ;  when  we  see  them 
actually  receiving  absolution  from  the  Pope's  le- 
gate, for  having  made  this  book,  the  making  of 
which  they  had  ascribed  to  the  aid  of  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  when  we  see  them  afterwards  re-recant  and 
re-apostatize  ;  when  we  see  them  re-enact  the  Com- 
mon Prayer-book,  re-enforce  it  upon  the  people  ; 
and,  especially,  when  we  see  this  remarkable  cir- 
cumstance ;  that,  when  they  had  to  suffer  the  Catho- 
lic religion  to  take  its  course  ;  when  the  object  of 
their  enactments  was,  to  restore  that  religion,  they 
had  no  penalties  to  inflict ;  no  compulsion  to  exer^ 
cise  ;  no  fines  to  impose,  in  order  to  drag  the  people 
to  the  Church  ;  but  that,  when  they  had  their  Pray- 
er-book Church  to  establish  ;  then  they  had  fines, 
forfeitures,  imprisonment  for  life,  to  inflict ;  and 
every  thing  short  of  immediate  death,  in  order  to 
secure  any  thing  like  compliance  on  the  part  of  the 
people. 

Thus  was  this  Church  established,  not,  as  her 
defenders  pretend,  by  the  reasonableness  of  the  in- 
stitution itself;  not  by  its  own  "  inherent  beauty  and 
simplicity,^^  as  the  fat  and  impudent  pluralists  tells 
us  ;  not  by  the  pretended  ^^  reform  of  abuses''''  which 
its  institution  effected  ;  but  solely  by  Acts  of  Parlia- 
ment, of  the  most  severe  and  cruel  character  ;  and 
executed   with  the   most  savage   barbarity.     The 


I.]  LBGACY  TO  PARSONS.  33 

authors  of  these  Acts  were  triple  apostates  ;  by  far 
the  most  shameless  apostates,  the  most  barefaced, 
the  most  unblushing,  that  the  world  has  ever  seen. 
The  origin  of  this  Church,  then,  is  not  only  to  be 
found  in  mere  Acts  of  Parliament,  but  in  Acts  of 
Parliament  causing  sheer  force,  bodily  coercion, 
pains  and  penalties,  at  every  step,  to  be  used  ;  this 
is  the  main  thing  to  keep  in  view,  when  the  end  of 
our  inquiry  is  to  be,  whether  it  be  not  now  proper 
to  take  from  this  Church  the  protection  of  the  State. 
These  are  the  Acts  of  Parliament  to  be  attended 
to  in  a  particular  manner  ;  first,  2d  and  3d  Edward 
the  Sixth,  chapter  1  ;  second,  1st  of  Elizabeth, 
chapter  2;  third,  13th  of  Elizabeth,  chapter  12. 
The  first  relates  to  the  making  of  the  Common 
Prayer  Book,  byCRANMER  and  his  associates;  and 
here  we  must  stop  for  a  moment  to  inquire  a  little 
what  this  Cranmer  was.  We  know  that  he  was 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  at  the  time  when  he 
made  this  Prayer  Book.  The  whole  of  the  history 
of  this  man  ;  of  all  his  horrid  deeds,  and  those  of 
his  associates,  is  to  be  found  in  my  "  History  of  the 
Protestant  Reformation ;"  but  as  we  are  now 
speaking  of  that  famous  Church,  of  which  he  was 
the  founder,  and  of  that  Prayer  Book,  of  which  he 
was  the  principal  author,  I  must  give,  respecting 
him,  an  extract  from  that  book  ;  for,  without  know- 
ing who  and  what  he  was,  we  shall  not  have  all  the 
merits  of  this  Church  fairly  before  us.  "  Black  as 
many  others  are,  they  bleach  the  moment  that 
Cranmer  appears  in  his  true  colours.  But,  alas! 
where  is  the  pen,  or  tongue,  to  give  us  those  co- 
lours ?  Of  the  65  years  that  he  lived,  and  of  the  35 
years  of  his  manhood,  29  years  were  spent  in  the 
commission  of  a  series  of  acts,  which,  for  wicked- 
ness in   their  nature,    and  for  mischief    in  their 


34  cobbett's  [Letter 

consequences,  are  absolutely  without  any  thing 
approaching  to  a  parallel  in  the  annals  of  human 
infamy.  Being  ?i  fellow  of  a  college  at  Cambridge, 
and  having,  of  course,  made  an  engagement  (as  the 
fellows  do  to  this  day,)  not  to  marry  while  he  was  a 
fellow,  he  married  secretly,  and  still  enjoyed  his 
fellowship.  While  a  married  man  he  became  a 
priest,  and  took  the  oath  of  celibacy  ;  and,  going 
to  Germany,  he  married  another  wife,  the  daughter 
of  a  Protestant;  so  that  he  had  now  two  wives  at 
one  time,  though  his  oath  bound  him  to  have  no 
wife  at  all.  He,  as  Archbishop,  enforced  the  law 
of  celibacy,  while  he  himself  secretly  kept  his  Ger- 
man frow  in  the  palace  at  Canterbury,  having,  as 
we  have  seen  in  paragraph  104,  imported  her  in  a 
chest.  He,  as  ecclesiastical  judge,  divorced  Henry 
VIII.  from  three  wives,  the  grounds  of  his  decision 
in  two  of  the  cases  being  directly  the  contrary  of 
those  which  he  himself  had  laid  down  when  he 
declared  the  marriages  to  he  valid ;  and,  in  the 
case  of  Anne  Boleyn,  he,  as  ecclesiastical  judge, 
pronounced,  that  Anne  had  never  been  the  king\^ 
wife ;  while,  as  a  member  of  the  House  of  Peers, 
he  voted  for  her  death,  as  having  been  an  adultress, 
and,  thereby,  guilty  of  treason  to  her  husband. 
As  Archbishop  under  Henry  (which  office  he 
entered  upon  with  a  premeditated  false  oath  on 
his  lips,)  he  sent  men  and  women  to  the  stake 
because  they  were  not  Catholics  and  he  sent  Catho- 
lics to  the  stake,  because  they  would  not  acknow- 
ledge the  King's  supremacy,  and  thereby  perjure 
themselves  as  he  had  so  often  done.  Become 
openly  a  Protestant,  in  Edward's  reign,  and  openly 
professing  those  very  principles  for  the  profess- 
ing of  \Yhich  he  had  burnt  others,  he  now  burnt 
his  fellow  Protestants,  because   their  grounds  for 


I.J  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  35 

protesting  were  different  from  his.  As  executor  of 
the  will  of  his  old  master,  Henry,  which  gave  the 
crown  (after  Edward)  to  his  daughters,  Mary  and 
Elizabeth,  he  conspired  with  others  to  rob  those 
two  daughters  of  their  right,  and  to  give  the  crown 
to  Lady  Jane  Grey,  that  Queen  of  nine  days, 
whom  he,  with  others,  ordered  to  be  proclaimed. 
Confined,  notwithstanding  his  many  monstrous 
crimes,  merely  to  the  palace  at  Lambeth,  he,  in  re- 
quital of  the  Queen's  lenity,  plotted  with  traitors 
in  the  pay  of  France  to  overset  her  government. 
Brought,  at  last,  to  trial  and  to  condemnation  as  a 
heretic,  he  professed  himself  ready  to  recant.  He 
was  respited  for  six  weeks,  during  which  time  he 
signed  six  different  forms  of  recantation,  each  more 
ample  than  the  former.  He  declared  that  the  Pro- 
testant religion  was  false ;  that  the  Catholic  reli- 
gion was  the  only  true  one  ;  that  he  now  believed 
in  all  the  doctrines  of  the  Catholic  Church  ;  that  he 
had  been  a  horrid  blasphemer  against  the  sacrament ; 
that  he  was  unworthy  of  forgiveness  ;  that  he  prayed 
the  People,  the  Queen,  and  the  Pope,  to  have  pity 
on,  and  to  pray  for,  his  wretched  soul ;  and  that  he 
had  made  and  signed  this  declaration  without  fear, 
and  without  hope  of  favour,  and  for  tlie  discharge 
of  his  conscience,  and  as  a  warning  to  others.  It 
was  a  question  in  the  Queen's  council,  whether  he 
should  be  pardoned,  as  other  recanters  had  been ; 
but  it  was  resolved,  that  his  crimes  were  so  enor- 
mous that  it  would  be  unjust  to  let  him  escape ;  to 
which  might  have  been  added,  that  it  could  have 
done  the  Catholic  Church  no  honour  to  see  recon- 
ciled to  it  a  wretch  covered  with  robberies,  perju- 
ries, treasons,  and  bloodshed.  Brought,  therefore, 
to  the  public  reading  of  his  recantation,  on  his  way 
to  the  stake  ;  seeing  the  pile  ready ;  now  finding 


36  cobbett's  [Letter 

that  he  must  die,  and  carrying  in  his  breast  all  his 
malignity  undiminished,  he  recanted  his  recantation, 
thrust  into  the  fire  the  hand  that  had  signed  it,  and 
thus  expired,  protesting  against  that  very  religion 
in  which,  only  nine  hours  before,  he  had  called  God 
to  witness  that  he  firmly  believed !" 

Now,  not  one  of  these  facts  can  be  denied ;  but, 
at  the  very  least,  we  know  that  he  was  an  apostate, 
a  perjurer,  and  a  murderer ;  and  we  know  that  the 
Act,  which  enacted  the  Prayer  Book,  tells  us,  that 
he  was  at  the  head  of  those  persons  who,  "  with  the 
aid  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  composed  that  Prayer  Book. 

The  second  of  these  Acts  of  Parliament  is  1st 
Elizabeth,  chapter  2,  which  re-enacts  the  former 
act,  and  adds  to  the  severity  of  its  provisions.  The 
third  is  13th  Elizabeth,  chapter  12,  relating  to  the 
ARTICLES  OF  RELIGION  ;  and  cxcludiug  from  all 
share  in  the  tithes,  or  any  other  Church-property, 
all  persons  who  will  not  swear  to,  and  subscribe, 
those  articles. 

These  Acts  of  Parliament,  having  been  read  with 
due  care,  you  see  clearly,  "Aow  there  came  to  be  an 
Established  Church;''^  and  you  are  able  to  answer, 
at  once,  the  question,  whether  this  Church  have  any 
rights,  or  can  have  any  rights,  other  than  those 
which  it  derives  from  Acts  of  the  Parliament.  This 
is  now  a  matter  of  the  greatest  possible  import- 
ance ;  for  now,  at  the  distance  of  two  hundred  and 
eighty-seven  years  from  the  time  of  passing  the  Act 
of  Edward  the  Sixth,  which  first  made  the  Church 
and  the  Prayer  Book,  the  Parliament  (still  sitting 
at  Westminster)  has  to  discuss  the  question ;  and 
is  now  actually,  indeed,  engaged  in  the  discussion  of 
the  question  ;  whether  this  Church  stands  on  pre- 
scription, or  on  Acts  of  Parliament.  I  have  laid 
before  you  the  Acts  by  which  it  was  made  ;  by  which 


I.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  37 

it  was  created  ;  from  which  it  entirely  sprang,  and 
had  its  being  ;  and  I  defj^  any  man  to  discover  any  cir- 
cumstance which  can  give  it  a  pretence  for  claiming 
any  right  not  founded  on  these  Acts  of  Parliament. 

What  a  Parliament  can  do,  a  Parliament  can 
undo.  If  there  be  property  of  any  sort,  that  a  par- 
liament can  take  from  one  description  of  persons, 
and  give  it  to  another  description  of  persons,  a  par- 
liament can  take  that  same  property  again,  and  dis- 
pose of  it  in  a  similar,  or  in  any  other  manner. 
This,  Parsons,  is  what  you  are  so  much  afraid  of 
now  !  I,  for  instance,  would  take  away  the  whole 
of  the  property  from  you,  and  dispose  of  it  in  an- 
other manner  ;  others  would  not  go  so  far  ;  but  you 
have  cunning  enough  to  perceive,  that,  if  once  a  be- 
ginning is  made,  no  one  can  tell  where  we  are  to 
end.  Therefore,  it  is,  that  you  and  your  partizans 
contend,  that  you  have  a  right  of  prescription,  such 
as  a  man  has  to  an  estate,  purely  private  ;  that  your 
right  of  possession  is  beyond  all  the  inquiries  of 
law,  and  that  a  Parliament  must  be  a  tyrant,  and 
guilty  of  rapine,  if,  by  its  acts,  it  alienate  any  part 
of  your  property. 

Those  who  hold  this  doctrine  forget  its  inevita- 
ble effect  on  the  titles  of  all  the  holders  of  abbey- 
lands,  and  all  the  lay-holders  of  tithes.  There 
are,  very  frequently,  lay-holders  of  oblations,  too  ; 
but,  for  clearness  and  simplicity's  sake,  I  will  con- 
fine myself,  for  the  present,  to  the  lay-tithes.  These 
tithes,  which  are  now  deemed  private  property, 
were  taken  from  the  Church  ;  were  taken  from  the 
parochial  clergy;  and  granted  to  the  king;  and  by 
him  granted  to  private  persons ;  and  thus  were  to- 
tally alienated  from  the  Church.  Do  you  say,  that 
this  was  an  act  of  rapine?  Do  you  say,  that  the 
Parliament  had  no  rightful  power  to  do  this  ?  Do 
4 


38  cobbett's  [Letter 

you  say,  that  this  law  was  contrary  to  the  rights  of 
prescription,  and  the  laws  of  God ;  and  that,  there- 
fore, according  to  the  maxims  of  our  law,  it  v.^as  no 
law  at  all,  but  an  act  of  rapine  ?  So  said  the  people 
of  England,  at  the  time  ;  and  the  people  actually  re- 
fused to  yield  their  tithes  to  laymen,  pleading  the 
law  of  God ;  denying  that  any  Parliament  had  a 
right  to  pass  a  law,  authorizing  laymen  to  receive 
tithes. 

But  those  who  had  passed  the  laws  which  took 
the  tithes  from  the  Church  and  the  poor,  and  put 
them  into  their  own  hands,  soon  found  the  means 
of  compelling  the  people  to  submit  to  it,  whether  it 
were  itapine,  or  not.  The  Act  27th  Henry  the 
Eighth,  chapter  20  ;  after  stating,  that,  "  divers  num- 
bers of  evil  disposed  persons  inhabited  in  sundry 
counties,  having  no  respect  to  their  duties  to  Al- 
mighty God,^^  &c.,  had  "  subtracted,  or  withheld 
parts  or  the  whole,  of  their  tithes,  under  pretence 
of  their  tithes  being  demanded  by  lay-persons,^^  pro 
ceeds  to  enact  various  punishments  for  such  subtrac- 
ting, or  withholding.  Five  years  afterwards,  when 
the  second  great  Act  of  plundering  the  monasteries 
had  taken  place,  another  Act  was  passed,  still  more 
strictly  enforcing  the  yielding  of  tithes  to  lay-per- 
sons. The  accusation  against  the  people  was  sta- 
ted thus,  in  the  preamble  to  this  Act:  "That  the 
people,  not  regarding  their  duties  to  Almighty  God, 
subtracted  and  withdrew  the  lawful  and  accustomed 
tithes  of  corn,  hay,  pasturage,  and  other  sorts  of 
tithes  and  oblations,  due  to  the  owners,  proprietors, 
and  possessors  of  parsonages,  vicarages,  and  other 
ecclesiastical  places ;  being  the  more  encouraged 
thereto,  for  that  divers  of  the  owners  of  the  said 
parsonages,  vicarages,  tithes,  and  oblations,  are 
lay-persons.'^     Then  the  Act  goes  on  to  give  to 


I.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  39 

these  lay-persons  all  the  rights  of  the  clergy  as  to 
suing  in  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  which  they  could 
not  do  without  an  Act  for  the  purpose. 

After  the  minor  plunder  of  the  chantries,  of  the 
guilds  and  fraternities  and  hospitals,  it  was  neces- 
sary to  pass  another  Act  (2nd  and  3d  Edward  the 
Sixth,  chap.  13,)  to  enforce  these  Acts  of  Henry 
the  Eighth,  and  to  compel  payment  of  tithes  to  lay- 
men upon  the  footing  of  the  clergy,  as  to  the  man- 
ner of  suing  for  the  same. 

Here,  then,  are  all  these  Acts  of  Parliament,  pro- 
ving, that,  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  people  ; 
that,  in  spite  of  their  deep  sense  of  the  injustice ; 
that,  in  the  face  of  all  the  former  laws  of  the  coun^- 
try,  the  Parliament  had  the  rightful  power  to  take 
away  both  the  predial  and  personal  tithes,  and  to 
give  them  to  laymen,  and  to  vest  them,  as  an  es- 
tate, in  laymen. 

Now,  then,  if  this  were  not  an  act  of  rapine,  if  it 
were  a  thing  that  a  Parliament  could  rightfully  do, 
what  pretence  have  you  for  saying,  that  this  pre- 
sent Parliament  cannot  rightfully  deal  with  the  re- 
mainder of  the  tithes,  in  any  manner  that  they  may 
think  proper  ?  And,  if  it  were  an  act  of  rapine, 
then  all  the  laws  relative  to  the  abbey-lands  ;  all 
the  laws  relative  to  the  tithes,  all  the  laws  relative 
to  this  Church  Establishment,  are  to  be  considered 
as  no  laws  at  all.  If  you  plead,  that  the  Parliament 
has  no  right  to  take  away,  or  alienate,  that  which 
is  called  Church  property,  you  must  insist,  that  no 
layman  has  a  good  title  to  tithes :  but  you  cannot 
do  this,  without,  at  the  same  time,  denying  the  va- 
lidity of  those  Acts  of  Parliament,  to  which,  and  to 
which  alone,  you  owe  your  own  right  of  possession 
to  tithes,  to  oblations,  to  any  part,  or  particle,  of 
that  which  you  possess.     So  that  it  comes  to  this, 


40  coBBETT*s  Letter. 

at  last;  that,  either  all  was  rapine  ;  all  was  direct- 
ly contrary  to  the  laws  of  God ;  and,  therefore, 
null ;  or  all  your  possessions  and  privileges  have 
their  foundation  in  Acts  of  Parliament  alone,  and 
may,  therefore,  be  all  taken  away,  by  the  rightful 
power  of  the  Parliament. 

There  are  some  persons  who  contend,  that  the 
Parliament  has  the  rightful  power  to  make  regu- 
lations with  regard  to  the  property  of  the  Church  ; 
to  make  a  new  distribution  of  it  amongst  the  bish- 
ops, deans,  parsons,  and  so  forth  :  but  that,  though 
there  may  be  too  much  property  found  lodged  in 
c^tain  hands,  and  though  the  rightful  power  of  the 
Parliament  to  make  a  more  desirable  distribution 
is  undoubted ;  still  that  power  does  not  extend  so 
far  as  to  the  taking  of  it  away  from  the  Church  al- 
together ;  and  that,  if  it  be  taken  from  parsons, 
bishops,  and  so  forth,  it  must  be  applied  to  some 
purposes  or  other,  tending  to  the  upholding,  and  to 
the  efficiency,  of  the  Established  Church ;  and  the 
purposes  of  education  are  generally  named  ;  which 
is  about  as  curious  a  whim  as  ever  entered  into  the 
head  of  mortal  man.  Why,  what  is  the  Established 
Church  FOR  ?  For  what  do  its  clergy  swallow  up 
from  five  to  eight  millions  a  year?  If  for  any 
thing  of  public  benefit,  it  must  be  for  the  purpose 
of  instructing  the  people  in  religion ;  that  is  to 
say,  for  educating  the  people  in  the  principles  of 
true  religion.  Why,  then,  take  the  money  away 
from  the  parsons  and  give  it  to  somebody  else,  that 
they  may  teach  the  people  ?  Besides,  if  the  tithes 
be  taken  from  the  parsons,  and  their  amount  given 
to  schoolmasters,  there  is,  in  fact,  an  alienation  from 
the  Church.  It  is,  then,  a  mere  matter  of  expedi- 
ency ;  and  the  only  question  is,  would  it  he  good 
for  the  people ;  good  for  the  people  in  general,  of 


I.]  LEGACY    TO    PARSONS.  41 

this  kingdom,  to  take  the  whole  of  the  property  from 
the  clergy,  or  would  it  not  1  This  is  the  only  ques- 
tion to  be  entertained  on  the  subject  by  ration- 
al men.  I  am  of  opinion  that  it  would  be  good 
to  do  it ;  and,  before  I  have  done,  I  shall  clearly  and 
frankly  state  all  my  reasons  for  being  of  that 
opinion. 

The  first  question,  "  How  came  there  to  be 
AN  established  CHURCH?"  I  havc  HOW  auswcred  : 
I  have  stated,  and  clearly  shown,  the  motives  for  the 
making  of  this  Church  ;  I  have  shown  the  manner 
in  which  it  was  made  ;  I  have  given  a  true  picture 
of  the  character  and  conduct  of  the  makers  of  it;  I 
have  exhibited  to  the  view  of  the  reader  the  severi- 
ties, the  cruelties,  the  ferocious,  the  more  than  sa- 
vage punishments,  by  which  its  introduction  was  en- 
forced ;  I  have,  above  all  things,  shown  that  it  ori- 
ginated in  Acts  of  Parliament ;  that  it  rests  sole- 
ly on  Acts  of  Parliament  for  every  fragment  of 
possession  that  it  has  ;  and  that  it,  and  all  that  be- 
longs to  it,  may  now  be  disposed  of  by  the  rightful 
power  of  the  Parliament,  in  any  manner,  and  for 
any  purpose,  that  the  Parliament  may  deem  to  be 
proper :  and  now  I  shall,  in  the  next  letter,  pro- 
ceed to  show  "  HOW  there  came  to   be  people 

CALLED  DISSENTERS." 


cobbett's  [Letter 


LETTER  II. 

how  came  there  to  be  people  called 
dissenters? 

Parsons, 

Amongst  all  the  qualities  for  which  the  Church, 
as  by  law  established,  is  distinguished  from  every 
other  body  of  men  in  the  world,  the  quality  of  cool 
IMPUDENCE  stands  very  conspicuous.  A  Church- 
parson  always  argues  with  you,  or  talks  with  you, 
as  if  you  admitted,  in  limine^  that  his  church  is  the 
only  true  church  of  Christ  now  in  the  world  ;  or 
that  there  ever  was  in  the  world ;  and  that  all 
which  those  who  differ  from  it  can  pretend  to, 
is  a  somewhat  mitio^ated  decree  of  error.  One 
would  have  thought  that  men  who,  from  being 
Roman  Catholics,  had  become  of  Tom  Cranmer's 
religion,  and  enacted  his  Prayer  Book ;  who  had 
afterwards  enacted  that  his  Prayer  Book  was  schis- 
matical,  and  had  gone  upon  their  knees  to  receive 
absolution  from  the  Pope  for  having  made  it ;  who 
had,  after  that,  re-enacted  this  same  Prayer  Book, 
and  had  recorded,  in  an  act  of  Parliament,  the  abso- 
lution that  they  recently  received  from  the  Pope  ; 
and  had  enacted  all  the  circumstances  and  acts 
connected  with  the  making  of  the  Prayer  Book  to 
have  been  unlawful  and  impious  :  one  would  have 
thought  that,  at  any  rate,  after  all  this,  they  would 
not  have  had  the  audacity  to  set  up  a  title  to  in- 
fallibility  ;  and  to  claim  a  right  to  compel  all  other 
men  to  adopt  a  belief  in  any  thing,  be  it  what  it 
might,  which  they  chose  to  adopt  as  their  creed ; 


II.]  LEGACY    TO    PARSONS.  43 

to  call  those  who  would  not  conform  to  this  their 
will,  by  the  disrespectful  name  of  dissenters  ; 
that  is  to  say,  fallers  away  from  the  true  faith,  and 
not  entitled  to  the  ordinary  benefit  of  the  laws; 
and  when  it  suited  the  purpose  of  the  Church-ma- 
kers, as  liable  to  some  sort  of  'punishment'  Yet 
this  is  what  these  Church-makers  did  ;  and  on  these 
principles  they  have  acted  even  unto  the  present 
day  ;  though  now  (from  causes  which  we  shall,  by-, 
and-by,  have  to  state)  they  begin  to  discover  some 
misgivings  ;  and  to  profess  to  be  willing  to  yield  up 
a  portion  of  their  enormous  pretensions. 

When  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  had  been  bro- 
ken up  ;  when  its  clergy  had  been  ousted  ;  when 
its  property  had  been  confiscated  and  scattered ; 
when  the  faith,  which  the  people  in  general  had 
lived  in  for  nine  hundred  years,  had  been  declared 
to  be  erroneous  ;  when  the  worship,  which  they 
had  practised  for  that  length  of  time,  had  been  stig- 
matized as  idolatrous  and  damnable ;  what  right- 
ful power  was  there,  or  could  there  be,  on  earth,  to 
command  the  people  to  adopt  any  particular  new 
faith,  or  any  7iew  worship  1  What  rightful  power 
could  there  be  to  make  a  whole  nation  conform  to 
any  rule  of  faith  or  of  worship,  prescribed  by  any 
person  or  set  of  persons ;  and,  especially,  what 
rightful  power  could  there  be  in  those  who  had  ab- 
rogated the  Prayer  Book  after  they  had  made  it, 
and  had  called  it  schismatical  ;  what  rightful  power 
could  they  ever  have  had  to  bend  the  necks  of  the 
whole  nation,  and  to  compel  them  to  adopt  a  reli- 
gion ;  to  adopt  creeds,  and  a  form  of  worship, 
which  they  themselves  had  begged  pardon  of  Al- 
mighty God  for  having  invented  ? 

This  question  is  monstrous  ;  and  so  monstrous 
is  the  proposition  that  it  embrace^,  that  it  is  to  be 


44  cobbett's  [L«ttei 

answered  only  by  indignant  feelings  :  no  words  can 
furnish  a  suitable  answer.  The  ancient  religion  of 
the  country  having  been  overturned  and  put  down 
by  law  ;  by  law  indeed,  aided  by  the  bayonet,  every 
man  Vvas  left,  of  course,  to  choose  a  religion 
for  himself  Every  man  had  the  Bible  in  his  hand  ; 
he  had  a  conscience  in  his  breast ;  and  it  was  for 
him  to  consider  and  determine  what  that  Bible 
4;aught  him  to  believe,  and  the  sort  of  worship  that  it 
taught  him  to  practise.  Jesus  Christ  was  no 
longer  upon  earth ;  the  apostles  were  gone  ;  that 
which  the  nation  had  so  long  believed  had  been 
founded  by  them,  and  by  their  successors  in  autho- 
rity :  that  was  now  gone,  too  ;  the  distribution  of 
the  Church-property  ;  its  application  to  charitable 
purposes  :  this  was  gone.  And,  in  such  a  state  of 
things,  justice  demanded  that  the  people  should  be 
left  to  themselves  to  choose  their  mode  of  worship- 
ping God  ;  and  that  the  national  property  called 
Church-property  should  be  applied  to  the  uses  of 
the  nation  in  general ;  and  not  grasped  for  the  sole 
use  of  any  particular  set  of  men. 

That  this  was  the  general  vvay  of  thinking  of  the 
people,  at  the  time,  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  for, 
Cranmer's  Church  was  hardly  born  before  there 
were  plenty  of  people  to  protest  against  it.  To 
call  them  Protestants  would  not  do ;  because  that 
was  the  name  given  to  those  who  had  protested 
against  the  Catholic  Church  ;  and,  besides,  that 
was  a  name  designed  to  be  held  in  honour.  There 
were  Baptists;  there  were  Calvimsts  ;  there 
were  great  numbers  of  persons  of  different  opinions,' 
as  there  naturally  would  be,  in  such  a  state  of 
things.  The  Prayer  Book  Church-makers  having 
the  property  in  their  hands,  and  resolved  to  keep 
it,  proscribed  all  these  conscientious  sets  of  per- 


II.]  LEGACY    TO    PARSONS.  4b 

sons  under  the  general  name  of  Non-conformists. 
Sectarians,  or  Dissenters  ;  and  they  soon  found 
the  means  of  keeping  them  in  a  state  of  the  most 
abject  subjection  ;  though  they  had  not  a  shadow 
of  rightful  power  for  so  doing. 

The  Dissenters,  as  we  must  now  call  those 
Protestants  who  refused  to  subscribe  the  creeds 
and  articles  of  the  Church,  objected  to  those  creeds 
and  to  the  Church  worship,  some  for  one  reason 
and  some  for  another ;  but  it  is  a  curious  fact,  that 
they  all  agreed  most  cordially  in  one  objection  ; 
namely,  to  the  uniting  of  the  spiritual  supre- 
macy of  the  Church  with  the  temporal  supremacy  of 
the  state ;  they  all  insisted,  and  most  perseveringly, 
on  this,  which  they  called  an  "unscriptural  union:" 
such  they  call  it  unto  this  day  ;  and  hence  their 
united  demand  for  a  separation  of  the  Church  from 
the  state  ;  and  it  is  truly  curious,  that,  though  they 
were  Roman  Catholics,  the  two  most  learned  and 
most  virtuous  men  of  that  age,  or  of  almost  any 
age.  Sir  Thomas  More,  and  Bishop  Fisher, 
died  upon  the  scaffold,  rather  than  acknowledge 
the  lawfulness  of  this  union  of  Church  and  state. 

Indeed,  if  one  looks  at  the  thing  in  a  religious 
point  of  view,  it  is  perfectly  monstrous.  In  the 
tirst  place,  that  a  mere  lay-person,  not  having  stu- 
died divinity;  not  having  any  character  of  religious 
teacher  about  him  ;  being  essentially  a  soldier ; 
being  essentially  a  magistrate  bearing  the  sword  ; 
that  such  a  person  should  be  the  head  of  the  Church 
of  Christ;  have  the  supremacy  over  that  Church 
in  spiritual  matters;  and  we  having  the  example 
of  the  Apostles  before  us,  as  to  the  government  of 
the  Church  ;  and  as  to  the  selecting  and  appoint- 
ing of  bishops  and  other  spiritual  guides :  this 
alone,  upon  the  mere  face  of  it,  might  have  been  an 


46  cobbett's  [Letter 

excuse  for  conscientious  men  objecting  to  this  es- 
tablishment. Then,  as  to  the  mode  of  selecting 
and  appointing  bishops  ;  and  the  practice  called  the 
Conge  d'elire.  Mr.  Baron  Maseres,  who  was  so 
many  years  Cursitor  Baron  of  the  Exchequer  ;  who 
was  descended  from  a  Hugonot  ;  who  was  a  very 
stanch  Protestant ;  who  was  also  a  stanch  Church- 
man, for  a  great  many  years  of  his  very  long  life, 
and  who  certainly  was  as  good  a  man  as  ever 
breathed,  wrote  and  published  a  little  book,  Avhich  he 
called  "  The  Moderate  Reformer^  In  this  book 
he  strongly  recommended  the  discontinuance  of 
the  practice  of  the  Conge  d'elire,  that  being  a 
thing  which  he  deemed  most  injurious  to  the  cha- 
racter of  the  Church. 

The  Conge  d'elire  is  a  leave  to  elect ;  that  is  to 
say,  a  leave  given  by  the  King,  as  head  of  the 
Church,  to  the  dean  and  chapter  of  a  diocese,  to 
elect  a  bishop.  "When  they  receive  this  leave  from 
the  King,  they  meet ;  and,  after  the  religious 
ceremony  and  invocations  suitable  to  the  ccasion, 
the  dean,  I  suppose  it  is,  pulls  out  of  his  pocket 
the  name  of  the  man  whom  the  King  has  given 
them  leave  to  elect!  Now,  is  there  any  man  of 
sense  and  reason  in  the  world  who  will  say  that  it 
was  just  to  compel  all  the  people  of  England  to 
conform  to  the  belief,  that  this  was  agreeable  to 
the  will  of  the  Author  of  the  Christian  religion? 

But,  the  headship  of  the  Church  does  not  in  this 
exhibit  any  thing  like  all  its  objectionable  parts  :  a 
woman  may  be  the  head  of  the  church,  as  women 
twice  have  been  in  England  :  a  boy,  or  a  little  girl ; 
nay,  a  baby  in  arms  ;  nay,  further,  one  not  yet  born, 
supposing  the  king  to  die  while  the  queen  is  preg- 
nant with  an  heir  to  the  throne,  may  be  the  head  of 
the  Church  of  Christy  in  England ;  to  say  nothing 


II.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  47 

of  the  possibility  of  this  headship  being  possessed 
by  persons  bereft  of  their  senses  ! 

Here,  then,  in  this  one  thing,  will  any  man  say, 
that  there  was  not  enough  to  make  conscientious 
men  hesitate  before*  they  consented  to  belong  to 
this  Church  ?  Will  any  one  say,  that  it  was  right 
to  stigmatize,  and  to  exclude  from  the  ordinary  be- 
nefits of  the  law,  men  who  could  not  bring  them- 
selves to  bend  to  this ;  will  any  one  say  that  it  was 
just  to  inflict  penalties  on  men,  because  they,  with 
the  Gospels  and  the  Epistles  in  their  hands,  refused 
to  conform  to  an  establishment  like  this  ?  Howev- 
er, stigmatized  and  punished  they  were.  Cranmer 
hurnt  several  of  them  for  protesting  against  his 
Church  ;  and  as  to  Elizabeth,  her  forty-five  years' 
reign  were  forty-five  years  of  the  most  ferocious 
punishments  inflicted  on  this  conscientious  part  of 
her  subjects.  I  beg  the  reader,  if  he  wish  to  pos- 
sess a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  treatment  of  the 
persons  called  Dissenters  ;  of  the  treatment,  which 
the  forefathers  of  the  present  Dissenters  received 
at  the  hands  of  the  Established  Church  and  its 
head,  to  read,  if  his  boiling  blood  will  permit  him 
to  read,  the  act  35th  Elizabeth,  chapter  1,  entitled 
•'  An  Act  to  Retain  the  Queen's  Majesty's  Subjects 
in  their  due  Obedience,''  which  Act  begins  thus : 
"For  the  preventing  and  avoiding  of  such  great  in- 
conveniences and  perils  as  might  happen  and  grow 
by  the  wicked  and  dangerous  practices  of  seditious 
Sectaries  and  disloyal  persons,  be  it  enacted,  &c." 
The  reader  will  observe  that  this  had  nothing  at  all 
to  do  with  the  Roman  Catholics,  for  the  scourging, 
and  racking,  and  ripping  up  of  whom  the  Church- 
makers  had  other  Acts  of  Parliament.  This  Act 
was  purely  against  Protestant  Dissenters ;  or,  as 
the  Act  calls  them,  Non-conformists  ;  that  is  to 


48  cobbett's  [Letter 

say,  that  conscientious  part  of  the  people  who 
would  not  conform  to  that  Prayer  Book  Church, 
which,  by  the  authors  of  it  themselves,  had  been 
called  "  Schismatical  and  wicked,"  and  for  having 
made  which  they  had  supplicated  the  Pope  to  give 
them  absolution. 

At  this  time  the  Dissenters  were  very  numerous, 
as  they  naturally  would  be.     There  were  already 
laws  to  exclude  them  from  all  emoluments  of  office; 
from  the  benefits  of  the  Universities  ;  and  to  com- 
pel them  to  pay  tithes,  church-rates,  and  oblations 
and  dues,  to  the  clergy  of  the  Church  :  there  were 
already  laws  to  imprison  them  for  life,  and  to  cause 
thousands  upon   thousands  to  die  in  prison  under 
this  persecution  ;    however,  they  still  increased ; 
and  this  Act  was  intended  totally  to  put  them  down  ; 
or  to  expel  them  from  the  country  of  their  birth,  or 
to  kill  them.    But  there  was  a  difficulty  in  discover- 
ing who  were  and  who  were  not  Dissenters.    Divers 
schemes  were  resorted  to  for  this  purpose ;  but,  at 
last,  the  Church-makers  fell  upon  the  scheme  con- 
tained in  this  Act,  which  was  simply  this  :  to  com- 
'pel  all  the  people  to  go  to  the  churches,  regularly, 
and  there  to  join  in  the  performance  of  Divine  ser- 
vice, and  in  the  use  of  the  Com.mon  Prayer.     All 
persons,  of  whatever  rank  or  degree,  abi)ve  the  age 
of  sixteen  years,  who  refused  to  go  to  some  church 
or  chapel,  or  place  of  common    prayer  ;    or  who 
persuaded   any  other  person  not  to  go  ;    or  who 
should  be  at  any  conventicle,   or   meeting,  under 
colour  or  pretence  of  any  exercise  of  any  religion 
other  than  that  ordered  by  the  state  ;  then    every 
such  person  was  to  be  committed  to  prison,  there 
to  remain  until  he   should  be    ordered  to  come  to 
some  church  or  usual  place  of  common  Prayer,  and 
there  to  make  an  open  submission  and  declaration 


II.]  LEGACY    TO    PARSONS.  49 

of  his  conformity,  in  these  following  words.  "  I,  A 
B,  do  humbly  confess  and  acknowledge  that  I  have 
grievously  offended  God,  in  contemning  her  Majes- 
ty's lawful  government  and  authority,  by  absenting 
myself  from  Church,  and  in  using  unlawful  conven- 
ticles and  assemblies,  under  pretence  and  colour  of 
exercise  of  religion ;  and  I  am  heartily  sorry  for 
the  same  ;  and  I  do  acknowledge  and  testify  in  my 
conscience  that  no  person  hath,  or  ought  to  have, 
any  power  or  authority  over  her  Majesty  ;  and  I 
do  promise  that  I  will,  from  time  to  time,  repair  to 
the  church  and  hear  divine  service,  and  do  my  ut- 
most endeavour  to  defend  and  maintain  the  same." 

Now,  what  was  the  punishment,  in  case  of  diso- 
bedience here  ?  The  offender  was  to  "  abjure  the 
realm  ;"  that  is  to  say,  was  to  banish  himself  for 
life ;  and,  if  he  failed  to  do  this  ;  if  he  did  not  get 
out  of  the  kingdom  in  the  course  of  such  time  as 
should  be  appointed  by  the  authority  of  the  queen  ; 
or,  if  he  returned  into  the  kingdom,  without  her 
leave,  s«jch  person  so  offending  "was  to  be  adjudg- 
ed a  felon,  and  was  to  suffer,  as  in  cases  of  felony, 
without  benefit  of  clergy  ;"  that  is  to  say,  suffer  the 
sentence  due  to  arson  or  murder  ;  to  be  hanged  by 
the  neck  till  he  was  dead  ! 

Gentle  Church  !  Mild  Church  !  Sweet  Christian 
Church  ;  most  "  amiable  establishment !"  This 
was  the  way  that  you  went  to  work  to  convert  the 
people  to  your  doctrines,  and  to  induce  them  to  at- 
tend your  worship.  "  This  was  a  great  while  ago^ 
Yes,  it  was  a  great  while  ago  ;  but  it  is  very  neces- 
sary for  us  of  this  day  to  know  that  it  was  ;  and  that 
this  Act  continued  in  force  ;  in  full  and  unmitiga- 
ted force,  until  the  first  year  of  William  and  Mary, 
when  it  was  only  a  little  mitigated ;  the  Church 
always  sticking  firmlv  to  this  law.  This  was  a  law 
5 


50  cobbett's  [Letter 

which  said  to  all  the  people  ;  "  Come  and  hear  our 
Prayer  Book  read,  the  amiable  history  of  which 
you  know  so  well ;  come  in  person,  and  declare 
your  belief  in  our  creeds,  and  join  in  the  repeating 
of  our  Prayer  Book  ;  which  was  made  by  Act  of 
Parliament,  abrogated  as  schismatical  by  another 
Act  of  Parliament,  and  then  made  by  Act  of  Parlia- 
ment again  :  come  and  openly  profess  your  sincere 
belief  in  all  this;  or,  be  banished  for  life ;  or,  be 
hanged  by  the  neck  till  you  be  dead !" 

What  a  strange  thing  'that  the  Dissenters  should 
be  so  perverse,  as  to  bear  something  like  animosity 
towards  this  "  amiable  establishment,"  which  you 
parsons  tell  us  has  always  been  "  the  most  tolerant 
Church  that  ever  was  heard  of  in  the  world."  One 
cannot  help  laughing  :  one's  horror  is  so  great,  that 
it  ends  at  last  in  ridicule  at  the  monstrousness  of 
this  thing,  continuing  in  full  force,  too,  through  the 
rest  of  the  reign  of  this  horrible  wom.an  ;  through 
that  of  James  the  First;  Charles  the  First; 
Charles  the  Second;  and  never  attempted  to  be 
mitigated,  until  James  the  Second  made  the  attempt, 
and  which  attempt  was  the  real  cause  of  the  loss  of 
the  throne  to  him  and  his  family  for  ever. 

Parsons,  you  always  talk  of  this  Church,  as  if  it 
had  been  established  by  the  common  consent  of  the 
people ;  as  if  it  had  arisen  out  of  their  will ;  and  had 
been  their  work,  and  not  the  work  of  the  aristocracy  ; 
and  you  always  represent  the  Dissenters  as  unrea- 
sonable and  perverse  in  withdrawing  from  it,  or  not 
joining  it:  you  always  speak  of  the  makers  of  this 
Church  as  zealous  and  pious  men,  acting  in  con- 
formity to  the  will  of  the  people.  You  forget  to 
tell  us,  that,  even  in  its  very  dawn  ;  that  the  very 
introduction  of  the  Common  Prayer  Book  into  the 
Churches,  even  at  the  very  first   stripping  of  the 


11.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  51 

altars,  and  the  priests  of  tlieir  vestments  ;  you  for- 
get to  tell  us,  that  the  people  complained  and  re- 
monstrated all  over  the  kingdom ;  that  they  de- 
manded the  return  of  their  ancient  religion  ;  that 
they  complained,  that  they  had  been  reduced  to  the 
state  of  pack-horses,  while  the  nobility  and  gentry 
were  wallowing  in  newly  acquired  wealth.  Those 
who  have  read  my  History  of  the  Protestant  Re- 
formation know  all  this  to  be  true  ;  they  know  that 
the  people  rose  in  insurrection  in  several  parts  of 
England  ;  and  that  they  were  brought  into  the  bo- 
som of  the  Prayer-Book  Church,  in  the  reign  of 
Edward,  by  pious  exhortations,  no  doubt,  but  with 
the  aid  of  good  well-tempered  German  bayonets  ; 
as  you  will  see  in  Protestant  Reformation,  para- 
graph 212. 

You  never  tell  us  of  the  famous  ecclesiastical 
Commission,  established  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  ; 
in  virtue  of  the  very  first  Act  of  her  reign,  clauses 
17,  18,  and  19;  in  virtue  of  the  authority  given  her 
by  this  Act,  1  Elizabeth,  chapter  1,  she  appoint- 
ed a  Commission,  consisting  of  certain  bishops  and 
others,  whose  power  extended  over  the  whole  king- 
dom, and  over  all  ranks  and  degrees  of  people. 
They  were  empowered  to  have  an  absolute  control 
over  the  opinions  of  all  men,  and,  merely  at  their 
own  discretion,  to  inflict  any  punishment,  short  of 
death,  on  any  person  whatsoever.  If  they  chose, 
they  might  proceed  legally,  in  the  obtaining  of  evi- 
dence against  parties  ;  but,  if  they  chose,  they  might 
employ  imprisonment,  iherack,  or  torture,  of  any 
sort,  for  this  purpose.  If  their  suspicions  alighted 
upon  any  man,  no  matter  respecting  what,  and  they 
had  no  evidence,  nor  even  any  hearsay  against  him, 
they  might  administer  an  oath,  called  ex-oficio,  to 
him,  by  which  he  was  bound,  if  called  upon,  to  re- 


52  cobbett's  [Letter 

veal  his  thoughts,  and  to  accuse  himself,  his  friend, 
his  brother,  his  father,  upon  pain  of  death!  These 
monsters  inflicted  what  fines  they  pleased  ;  they  im- 
prisoned men  for  any  length  of  time  that  they  plea- 
sed ;  they  put  forth  whatever  new  articles  of  faith 
they  pleased;  and,  in  short,  they  had  an  absolute 
control  over  the  bodies  and  the  minds  of  the  whole 
of  the  people  ;  and,  observe,  this  act  remained  in 
force  until  the  16th  year  of  Charles  the  First,  when 
it  was  repealed  by  chapter  11   of  that  year. 

Parsons,  perhaps  you  will  tell  us,  that  your 
Church  had  nothing  to  do  wdth  this  ;  that  this  was 
the  work  of  the  queen.  She  was  the  head  of  your 
Church,  at  any  rate  ;  but,  observe,  the  Commission 
was  composed  of  Bishops,  chiefly:  bishops  of  the 
Prayer-Book  Church  were  at  the  head  of  this  Com- 
mission. 

The  Commission  was  for  the  purpose,  and  for 
the  sole  purpose,  of  punishing  people  for  not  con- 
forming to  the  Church  ;  and,  are  we  to  be  made  to 
believe,  that  the  Church  did  not  approve  of  this 
Commission  ;  especially,  when  we  never  heard  of 
such  a  thing  as  any  Bishop,  or  any  one  belonging 
to  the  Church,  protesting  against  the  use  of  these 
horrible  means  of  sustaining  it  ? 

In  like  manner  you  wash  your  hands  of  all  the 
savage  butcheries  of  this  reign,  during  which  more 
Englishmen  were  slaughtered  in  one  year  for  offen- 
ces, made  such  by  Act  of  Parliament,  for  the  sole 
purpose  of  upholding  this  Church,  than  were  put  to 
death  for  all  ofl'ences  whatsoever,  during  the  whole 
of  the  reign  of  the  "  Bloody  Queen  Mary  ;"  more 
slaughtered  in  one  year,  for  ofl'ences  made  by  Acts 
of  Parliament  to  support  this  Church,  than  were 
slaughtered,  even  in  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholo- 
mew, if  we  include   the  deaths  in   prison,  and  the 


II.]  LEGACY    TO    PARSONS.  53 

deaths  occasioned  by  banishment.  The  historian, 
Strype,  (he  was  a  Protestant,)  tells  us,  that  the 
queen  executed  more  than  five  hundred  criminals 
in  one  year,  and  was  so  little  satisfied  with  that 
number,  that  she  threatened  to  send  private  persons 
to  see  her  laws  executed,  for  ^'profit  and  gairi's 
sake.''^ 

It  is  impossible  to  look  at  the  origin  and  the  pro- 
gress of  this  Church  without  believing  that  it  caused 
greater  cruelties  to  be  infiicted  ;  a  greater  mass  of 
human  suffering  to  be  endured  than  ever  was  occa- 
sioned by  any  religious  establishment  in  the  world. 
There  have  been  religious  wars,  there  have  been 
crusades,  but  these  have  been  wars.  These  have 
been  fights  of  one  nation,  or  part  of  a  nation,  against 
another  ;  that  is  quite  another  matter  :  it  is  army 
against  army  ;  it  is  not  the  cold-blooded  operations 
of  law  ;  and  I  am  satisfied  that  the  history  of  the 
world  furnishes  no  instance  of  so  much  human 
suffering  inflicted  in  cold  blood,  as  was  inflicted  for 
the  establishment  and  the  upholding  of  this  Church, 
which  nevertheless  has  the  cool  impudence  to  call 
itself"  the  most  tolerant  Church  in  the  world." 

Perverse  creatures,  then,  these  Dissenters  must 
be,  to  feel  any  thing  like  a  prejudice  against  this 
"  amiable  establishment !"  5lonstrous  impudence  ; 
impudence  so  great,  that  one  cannot  find  words  to 
express  suitable  indignation  against  it ;  monstrous 
impudence  to  pretend,  that  it  is  granting  a  favour 
to  Dissenters,  to  suffer  them  to  be  placed  upon  a 
level  with  those  who  belong  to,  or  pretend  to  be- 
long to,  this  Church !  Monstrous  impudence,  to 
pretend  that  they  have  not  as  great  a  right  to  all  the 
ecclesiastical  possessions,  of  every  sort,  as  you,  the 
parsons,  have  !  For  my  part  I  hear  them  with  con- 
tempt when  they  come  crawling  for  what  they  call 
5* 


54  cobbett's  [Letter 

a  "  redress  of  their  grievances.'^  Why,  the  domi- 
nation of  the  Church  is  a  grievance  altogether.  We 
are  all  grieved  alike  by  its  existence.  It  ought 
never  to  have  been  such  as  it  has  been.  But  of 
these  matters  I  shall  speak  more  fully  in  my  next 
letter ;  having  here  answered  the  question,  "  How 

THERE  CAME  TO  BE  PEOPLE  CALLED  DiSSENTERS  ;" 

having  given  an  account  of  their  rise,  their  progress, 
and  of  the  horrible  attempts  made  to  extirpate  them, 
by  this  Church,  as  by  law  established  ;  for  again 
and  again  I  protest  against  the  idea,  that  these  hor- 
rible laws  and  ferocious  cruelties  were  committed 
against  the  will,  or  without  the  concurrence  of  the 
Church,  The  atrocious  act  of  Elizabeth  (35th  of 
her  reign,  chapter  1)  could  not  have  been  passed 
without  the  concurrence  of  the  bishops  and  the 
clergy  ;  they  were  to  be  the  executors  of  the  law, 
or  to  see  the  law  executed ;  they  were  to  receive 
the  submission  and  declaration  of  conformity  ;  the 
minister  of  the  -parish  was  to  make  a  record  of  the 
submission,  and  he  was  to  make  a  report  of  it  to  the 
bishop;  so  that  here  it  was  a  church  aiTair  alto- 
gether. Therefore  we  are  not  to  be  shutHed  off 
with  the  pretence  that  it  was  a  mere  act  of  the  se- 
cular power  of  the  State. 

Indeed  (and  this  is  what  we  never  ought  to  lose 
sight  of,)  we  always  find  the  clergy  of  the  Church 
working  busily  in  all  these  things  ;  we  so  find  them 
from  the  days  ofCRANMER  down  to  the  late  French 
war;  aye,  and  down  to  the  days  of  Sidmouth  and 
Castlereagh.  At  this  moment,  indeed,  they  seem 
to  have  become  more  "  tolerant ;"  they  seem  to  be- 
gin to  perceive  that  at  last  they  must  give  way. 
Still  their  partizans  cling  to  their  pretended  rights ; 
and  therefore  it  is  necessary  that  we  look  well  into 
those  rights ;  and  it  will  be  prudent  in  the  Dissenters 


II.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  55 

not  to  express  their  content  with  any  change  short  of 
a  complete  putting  an  end  to  the  abuse,  from  the  top 
to  the  bottom.  We  shall  see  enough  oi  the  present 
state  of  this  Church  in  a  subsequent  letter  ;  we  shall 
see  in  what  degree  it  can  possibly  be  a  religious  in- 
structor ;  above  all  things  we  shall  see  who  it  is 
that  now  pockets  its  revenues;  we  shall  see  how  those 
revenues  are  employed  for  the  "cwre  of  souls ;" 
and  when  we  have  seen  these  clearly,  I  trust  there 
will  be  found  spirit  and  sense  enough  left  in  this 
nation  to  insist  upon  complete  redress  of  this  mi<rhty 
grievance ;  for  if  this  redress  be  not  had,  to  have 
reformed  the  Parliament  will  have  been  a  gross  de- 
ception ;  a  mere  contrivance  to  amuse  the  people 
with  vain  hopes  never  to  be  realized  ;  and  in  fact 
to  prevent  a  redress  of  this,  as  well  as  of  every 
other  wrong,  of  which  the  industrious  millions  of 
this  oppressed  and  impoverished  people  so  loudly 
and  so  justly  com'plain. 


LETTER  III. 

what  is  the  foundation  of  the  domination  of 
the  church  over  the  dissenters? 

Parsons, 

I  know  you  will  say,  "  the  law  gives  us  this  do- 
mination." I  know  it  does  ;  and,  for  that  very 
reason,  I  want  the  law  altered  ;  I  want  the  law  re- 
pealed that  gives  this  domination  to  you  ;  and,  with 
that  object  inview,  I  ask  "  what  is  the  foundation''^ 
of  the  present  law  ? 

Rightful  domination,  or  mastership,  has  these 
foundations,  or  one  of  them  ;  the  immediate  gift  of 
God;  conquest;    hereditary  property ;  purchase; 


56  cobbett's  [Letter 

paternal  authority.  Neither  of  these  foundations 
has  your  audacious  domination  to  rest  on.  Your 
pretence  of  being  the  prescriptive  successors  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Clergy  would  subject  you  to 
their  duties  and  laws,  as  well  as  give  you  their 
possessions.  These  would  compel  you  to  keep  the, 
poor  ;  to  feed  the  stranger  ;  to  harbour  the  house- 
less ;  to  abstain  from  marriage  and  all  carnal  inter- 
course*; and,  would  shut  out  all  bastards  from  be- 
ing ministers  of  Christ !  Blackstone  (Book  I.  c. 
16°)  "A  BASTARD  was  iucapaUe  of  Holy  Orders; 
and  though  that  were  dispensed  with,  yet  he  was 
utterly  disqualified  for  holding  any  dignity  in  the 
Church:  but,  this  doctrine  seems  now  obsolete.'''' 
That  is  to  say,  it  is  out  of  fashion  !  Oh  !  it  "  seems,'^ 
does  it.  Faith,  it  a  little  more  than  seems  ;  and 
this,  I  trust,  we  shall  ascertain,  by  having  the 
names  of  the  parties  before  us,^  before  we  have 
done  with  the  bastardy  clauses  of  the  Poor-law 
Bill.  It  a  little  more  than  "  seems  ;"  though  there 
is  no  law  for  this  departure  from  the  ancient  law, 
which,  you  will  observe,  was,  and  still  is,  the  law 
of  the  land,  independent  of  all  Acts  of  Parliament. 
But,  as  to  this  right  of  domination.  Suppose  it 
had  been  just  to  suppress  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  ;  suppose,  also,  that  it  had  been  just  to  take 
away  a  large  part  of  its  property,  and  give  it  to  the 
aristocracy  ;  suppose  that  it  had  been  just  to  oust 
and  extirpate  the  Catholic  priests  ;  suppose  that  it 
had  been  just  to  do  all  these  things,  upon  the 
ground  of  the  Catholic  religion  being  idolatrous  and 
damnable.  Admit  all  this  for  argument  sake  ;  stil 
what  ground  was  there  for  erecting  another  ChurcL 
by  law,  and  compelling  all  Protestants  to  submit 
to  that  new  Church?  The  pretence  for  suppress- 
ing the  ancient  Church,  be  it  what  it  might,  furnish 


III.]  LEGACY  TO   PARSONS.  57 

ed  no  ground  for  compelling  Protestants  to  submit 
to  another  Church.  The  ancient  religion  having 
been  declared  to  be  bad,  and  ha\  ing  been  stripped 
of  all  its  possessions,  every  man  was  free  to  choose 
a  mode  of  worship  for  himself;  and  to  pay  his  own 
priest,  if  he  chose  to  have  a  priest.  There  was  no 
rightful  power  any  where  to  have  control  over  the 
consciences  of  men  :  and  it  was  tyranny  ;  the  most 
hateful  tyranny,  to  attempt  to  exercise  such  con- 
trol. 

Still,  however,  if  a  decided  majority  of  the  peo- 
ple had  been  for  the  establishment  of  this  new 
Church  ;  then,  as  questions,  in  such  cases,  must  be 
decided  by  the  majority  of  voices,  the  present 
Church  might  plead  something  like  a  legitimate 
origin;  and,  indeed,  her  partizans  contend  that  6'Ae 
had  this  decided  majority  of  the  people  with  her. 
Whitaker,  in  his  book  exposing  the  murderous 
character  of  Elizabeth,  observes,  that  she  had  had 
given  to  her,  very  unjustly,  the  character  of  ma- 
ker of  the  Protestant  established  Church;  "that 
Church,'^  says  he,  "  arose  out  of  the  piety,  the  good 
sense,  and  the  common  consent  of  the  people  of 
England."  Whitaker,  who  took  up  the  cause  of 
Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  was  a  most  zealous  church- 
man, nevertheless;  and  was  as  unjust  towards  the 
Catholics  and  the  Dissenters,  as  he  was  just  in  the 
case  of  these  two  queens.  There  is  no  way  of  ef- 
fectually closing  up  the  mouth  of  these  self-called 
historians,  but  by  going  to  the  Statute  Book  : 
and  now  let  us  hear  what  the  Statute  Book  says 
upon  this  subject.  We  have  seen  in  the  preceding 
letters,  that  the  Prayer  Book  was  enacted  in  the 
year  1548.  In  the  year  1552  (5  and  6  Edward  the 
Sixth,  chap.  1)  there  required  an  Act  of  Parliament, 
to  compel  people  to  go  to  the  churches  to  hear  this 


58  coBBETT*s  [Letter 

Prayer-Book.  The  preamble  to  this  Act  sets  forth, 
"  that  great  niuubers  of  people  in  divers  parts  of 
the  realm  do  wilfully  and  damnably  abstain  and  re- 
fuse to  come  to  their  parish  churches."  Then  the 
act  proceeds  to  order  all  and  every  person  inhabit- 
ing within  the  realm  to  come  to  the  churches  to  as- 
sist at  the  prayer,  and  to  hear  the  preaching  ;  it 
next  charges  the  bishops  and  others  to  endeavour  to 
their  utmost  to  get  the  people  to  .their  churches, 
and  to  punish  the  refractory  by  all  the  censures  and 
powers  of  punishment  which  they  possessed  ;  it 
concludes  by  inflicting  penalties  on  all  those  who 
should  attend  or  assist  at  the  performance  of  any 
other  sort  of  worship,  whether  Catholic  or  Pro- 
testant ;  for  the  first  offence,  six  month's  imprison- 
ment ;  for  the  second  offence,  imprisonment  for  a 
year  ;  for  the  third  ofience,  imprisonment  for  life  ! 
This  severity  brought  Dissenters  to  the  Churches, 
and  into  the  church-yards.  In  those  churches  and 
church-yards,  they  disputed  about  religion.  Some 
disliked  the  new  Church  for  one  cause  ;  some  for 
another  ;  and,  therefore,  an  Act  was  passed,  in  the 
same  year  (5  and  6  Edward  the  Sixth,  chapter  4,) 
entitled  "  Against  quarrelling  and  fighting  in 
churches  and  church-yards^  The  preamble  sets 
forth  :  "  Forasmuch  as  of  late,  divers  and  m.any 
outrageous  and  barbarous  behaviours  and  acts  have 
been  used  and  committed  by  divers  ungodly  and 
irreligious  persons,  by  quarrelling,  brawling,  fray- 
ing,  and  fighting,  in  churches  and  church-yards." 
Then  on  goes  the  Act,  delivering  over  to  the  spirit- 
ual authority  all  the  offenders.  If  one  laid  violent 
hands  on  another,  or  smote  another,  sentence  of  ex- 
communication, M'ith  all  its  consequences,  Avas  to 
be  passed  upon  the  offender.  If  any  one  smote  an- 
other with  a  weapon,   or   drew  a  weapon  to  smite 


III.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  59 

him  with,  he  was  to  have  one  of  his  ears  cut  off ; 
and  now  mark,  Parsons  :  if  the  offender  had  no 
ears,  then  he  was  to  be  burnt  in  the  cheek  with  the 
letter  F,  signifying  fray-maker,  or  fighter ;  and 
was  to  be  excommunicated  besides.  This  Act  re- 
mains, in  great  part,  in  force  to  this  very  day  ;  and 
under  it  hundreds  of  persons  have  been,  within  my 
recollection,  imprisoned  and  ruined  ;  and  let  the 
people  of  this  insulted  country  now  remember,  and 
well  remember,  that  they 'owe  this  barbarous  law 
solely  to  the  establishment  of  this  Church. 

When  Mary  came  to  the  throne  after  this  boy- 
king,  these  Acts  were  swept  away.  The  Prayer- 
book  Church  was  gone,  and  there  needed  no  more 
cutting  olf  of  ears,  or  burnings  in  the  cheek.  But, 
can  we  proceed  any  farther,  without  expressing  our 
horror,  that  England  should  have  been  reduced  to 
such  a  state,  that  it  was  necessary  to  provide,  in  an 
Act  of  Parliament,  for  the  contingency  of  offenders 
having  no  ears  to  he  cut  off!  What  effect  the  new 
Church  had  had  upon  their  consciences  and  morals 
we  may  guess,  when  it  had  had  such  an  astonish- 
ing effect  upon  their  ears !  In  short,  it  was  a  con- 
tinual fight;  not  with  the  Catholics,  but  amongst 
Protestants  of  different  descriptions,  from  the  hour 
that  the  Prayer-book  Act  was  passed,  until  Mary 
came  to  the  throne,  and  swept  away  all  these  Acts, 
and  restored  the  Catholic  religion.  Then,  if  all 
was  not  harmony ;  and  all  could  not  be  harmony, 
after  what  had  passed  ;  still,  however,  there  required 
no  Acts  of  Parliament  to  compel  the  people  to  go 
to  Church  ;  there  required  neither  death,  rtor  im- 
prisonment, nor  banishment,  nor  any  thing  else,  to 
effect  this  purpose.  She  wished  to  make  all  her 
subjects  Roman  Catholics  ;  she  wished  all  her  sub- 
jects to  attend  mass ;  but  she  left  it  to  themselves, 


(50  cobbett's  [Letter 

as  far  as  related  to  their  personal  attendance  at  wor- 
ship ;  she  did  not  compel  them  to  be  guilty  of  what 
they  deemed  blasphemy. 

Will  it  be  said,  that  this  contest  amongst  the 
Protestants  was  but  of  short  duration  ;  that  it  was, 
in  the  heat  of  disputation,  natural  enough  upon 
such  a  change  ;  but  that  the  people  all  became 
very  soon  of  one  mind ;  and  that,  therefore,  the 
brawlings  and  fightings  are  not  to  be  looked  upon 
as  any  thing  serious  as  to  the  character  of  this  new 
Church.  Now,  observe;  the  bloody  Act  of  Eliza- 
beth, giving  the  people  a  choice  of  three  things, 
conformity ;  that  is,  coming  to  church,  making 
public  confession  of  belief  and  adhesion  to  the  new 
religion,  promising  not  to  profess  any  other  re- 
ligion, or  attend  at  any  other  place  of  worship, 
and  of  having  this  submission  recorded  in  a  book, 
by  the  parson  of  the  parish :  this  was  one  of  the 
things  that  they  had  to  choose  amongst.  Not  being 
able  to  bring  their  consciences  to  bend  to  this,  they 
were  to  abjure  the  realm,  and  banish  themselves  for 
life.  Not  being  able  to  bring  themselves  to  leave 
behind  them,  for  ever,  wives,  children,  parents, 
brethren,  and  all  that  they  held  dear  in  the  world, 
there  remained  to  them,  to  he  hanged  hy  the  neck 
till  they  were  dead  ;  and,  observe,  this  Act  applied 
purely  and  expressly  to  Protestant  Dissenters ; 
and  that,  by  the  12th  clause  of  the  Act  (35  Eliza- 
beth, chapter  1,)  Roman  Catholics  were  excepted 
from  the  provisions  of  the  Act,  there  being  other 
acts  for  them  of  a  still  more  horrible  description. 

An3  now  the  most  material  observation  of  all, 
with  regard  to  this  point,  remains  to  be  made  ;  and 
that  is  this,  that  this  Act  was  passed  at  the  end  of 
forty-one  years  of  attempts  to  enforce  this  Protes- 
tant Established   Church.     Edward  had   had  six 


III.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  61 

years'  attempt  at  it,  with  all  his  horrible  punish- 
ments; and  now  this  she-tyrant,  the  most  cruel  that 
ever  existed  in  the  world,  had  to  pass  this  Act,  at 
the  end  of  thirty-five  years  of  her  merciless  doings  ; 
so  that,  after  forty-one  years  of  punishments  of  all 
sorts ;  after  thousands  had  died  in  prison  ;  of  priva- 
tions, exclusions,  fines,  amercements,  disqualifica- 
tions as  to  property,  trades,  and  professions;  at  the 
end  of  forty-one  years  of  this  horrid  work,  it  re- 
quired banishment  for  life,  or  hanging  on  the  gal- 
lows, to  compel  the  Protestants  of  England  to  bring 
their  bodies  within  the  walls  of  the  places  where 
this  worship  of  the  Established  Church  was  per- 
formed !  What  plea  have  you  then,  Parsons ;  what 
ground  have  you  for  asserting ;  what  had  Whita- 
KER  to  bear  him  out  in  the  allegation,  that  this 
Church  arose  out  of  the  common  consent;  out  of 
the  movements  of  the  consciences  ;  out  of  the  zeal 
and  the  piety  of  the  people  ;  and  that  the  Church  was 
established  by  the  love  of  the  people  for  it ;  and  not 
oy  the  acts  of  any  king  or  queen,  or  those  of  their 
Parliaments?  Let  it  be  observed,  that  this  Act; 
that  this  banishing-and-hanging  Act,  continued  in 
full  force,  as  to  all  the  maiA  parts  of  its  provisions, 
until  it  was  altered  by  the  Act  1st  of  William  and 
Mary,  session  1,  chapter  18;  and  that  it  is  very 
far  from  being  swept  clean  away  even  unto  this 
hour. 

The  repeal  of  the  Test  and  Corporation  Acts, 
which  took  place  in  1828,  and  which  Acts  were 
passed  in  the  reign  of  Charles  the  Second,  the 
Act  25  Charles  the  Second,  chapter  2 ;  and  the 
Act  13  Charles  Second,  statute  2,  chapter  1,  ex- 
cluded from  all  offices  in  corporations,  and  from 
all  offices  of  trust  and  emolument  under  the 
Crown,  all  persons  who  should  not  receive  the 
6 


62  cobbett's  [Letter 

sacrament  according  to  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of 
the  Established  Church,  within  one  year  next  be- 
fore their  election  in  such  corporations,   or    their 
appointment  to  such  offices.     Now,   will  you  have 
the  audacity  to  pretend  that  the  Church  was  not  the 
instigator  to  the  passing  of  these  Acts  of  Parlia- 
ment?    Every  one  must  see  that  it  tended  to  keep 
all  powers  and  all  emoluments  of  the  whole  coun- 
try in  the  hands  of  the  aristocracy,   of  whom,   in- 
deed, the  Church  is,  in  fact,  the  property.     Was  it 
from  piety ;  from  motives  oi  pure  religion  ;  from  a 
desire  to  save  the  souls  of  men,  that  this  compulsion 
to  take  the  sacrament,    in  this  particular  manner, 
was  imposed  ;  and  is  it  not  manifest  that  it  was  im- 
posed for  the  purposes  of  exclusion?     The  Corpo- 
ration Act,  as  it  is  usually  called,  is  entitled,     "  An 
Act  for  the  well-governing  and  regulating  of  Cor- 
porations ;"  and  the  preamble  states,    that  many 
evil  spirits  were  working,  and  that  it  was  necessary 
to  perpetuate  corporations  in  the  hands  of  persons 
well  affected  to  his  Majesty  and  the  established  go- 
vernment; then  the  Act  proceeds  to  enact,  amongst 
other  things,  that  no  man  shall  have  a  post  in  a  cor- 
poration unless  he  receive  the  sacrament  according 
to  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land.    The  Test  Act  (25th    Charles    the    Second, 
chapter  2)  is  entitled   "  An  Act  to  prevent  dangers 
that  may  happen  from   Popish  recusants  ;''^  but, 
before  it  has  done,  it  includes    Dissenters ;  for   it 
makes   it   necessary    for  any  person  holding  any 
office,  civil  or  military,  or  receiving  any  pay,  salary, 
fee,  or  wages,  or  shall  be  in  any  place  of  command, 
or  of  trust,  from,  or  under,  the  King,  or  by  authori- 
ty derived  from  him,  or  shall  be  in  the  navy,  or  in 
the  islands   of  Jersey  and   Guernsey,    and  who 
shall  not  receive  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  sup- 


III.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  63 

per,  according  to  the  usage  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, shall  lose  his  said  post  or  employment ;  and 
that,  in  future,  no  man  shall  have  any  such  post, 
unless  he  bring  from  some  bishop,  priest,  or  other 
ecclesiastic,  a  certificate  that  he  has  received  the 
said  sacrament  in  manner  aforesaid.  These  Acts 
remained  in  force,  as  I  observed  before,  until  they 
were  repealed,  upon  the  motion  of  Lord  John  Rus- 
sell, in  the  year  1828  ;  which  Act  was  cried  up  as 
a  redressing-  of  all  the  wrongs  of  the  Dissenters ; 
of  which  I  will  say  more  presently. 

But,  upon  what  ground  were  these  Acts  repealed  ? 
Why,  upon  the  oround  that  they  were  unjust ;  upon 
the  ground  that  they  inflicted  gredii  wrongs  ;  upon 
the  ground  that  they  were  passed  against  common 
right.  Upon  no  other  ground  could  the  repeal 
have  taken  place.  There  was  no  expediency  now 
that  had  not  always  existed.*  But  what  did  this  re- 
peal do  for  the  Dissenters  in  general?  The  persons 
who  were  candidates  for  offices  in  corporations,  and 
in  ^employments  under  the  king  ;  the  Dissenters  of 
this  description  were  very  few  in  number,  compar- 
ed with  the  millions  of  Dissenters.  Yet  this  repeal 
was  represented  to  be  all  that  the  Dissenters  ever 
could  ask  for  !  The  very  repeal  of  the  Acts  ac- 
knowledged them  to  have  been  wrongful  ;  yet,  what 
were  these  Acts,  which  merely  shut  men  out  from 
public  employments,  compared  w4th  the  bloody 
Acts  which  we  -  have  before  seen,  by  which  the 
Church  was  introduced  and  upheld  by  the  ruin  or 
the  killing  of  the  people  M'ho  dissented  from  it? 

However,  this  repeal  left  all  the  great  and  sub- 
stantial grievances  remaining.  It  left  the  Dissent- 
ers just  where  they  were  before,  with  regard  to  these 
grievances  ;  it  left  them  to  have  their  marriages 
solemnized  by  the  Established  Church,   or  to  be 


64  cobbett's  [Letter 

without  the  quality  of  legality ;  it  compelled  them 
to  have  recourse  to  the  Church,  in  order  to  secure 
legal  proof  of  their  births  ^nd  their  deaths;  it  shut 
them  out  of  the  Universities  ;  but,  above  all  things, 
it  left  them  that  grievance  oi  all  grievances  ;  that 
flagrant  and  intolerant  injustice,  of  rendering  tithes 
and  oblations^  of  paying  rates  and  dues,  to  support 
a  clergy  and  an  establishment,  which,  from  the  be- 
ginning, their  forefathers  had  conscientiously  dis- 
sented from  ;  and  from  which  they  still  dissented, 
more  strongly  than  ever,  if  possible,  with  regard,  as 
well  to  its  doctrines,  as  to  its  ritual  and  its  discipline ; 
and  the  whole  of  which  they  will  now  learn  from  the 
Statute-Book  were  declared,  by  the  very  authors  of 
them  (1  Mary,  2d  session,  chapter  2)  to  be  schis- 
matical ;  and  were,  by  them,  swept  away  accord- 
ingly! 

If  the  Test  and  Corporation  Acts  were  wrongful ; 
and  they  were  so  ;  and  it  was  right  and  just  to  repeal 
them ;  why  not  repeal  all  the  other  grievances  ? 
by  what  law  of  God  ;  by  what  possible  interpreta- 
tion of  any  part  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  ;  by  what 
plea  of  prescription  ;  by  what  reason,  or  operation 
of  common  sense,  does  this  church  claim  a  right  to 
bring  Dissenters  before  it  to  solemnize  their  mar- 
riages, according  to  a  written  service  which  never 
had  their  sanction?  An  expedient  has  now  been 
fallen  upon  to  redress,  as  it  is  called,  this  griev- 
ance. Marriages  are  to  be  contracted,  it  seems, 
now,  before  the  civil  magistrate ;  but  still  the 
Church  keeps  its  hand  upon  them,  according  to  the 
intention,  which  has  been  stated  in  the  Parliament. 
The  parson  is  to  record  them  in  his  Church-Book, 
with  the  sum  of  five  shillings  to  accompany  each  re- 
cord. To  be  sure,  this  is  taking  out  a  great  screw  : 
this  is  rubbing  out  the  dogma  of  the  Church,  that 


III.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  65 

marriage  is  essentially  d  religious  act ;  and  few 
people,  I  suppose,  if  this  Act  pass,  will  think  it  ne- 
cessary to  go  to  the  Church  to  be  married  ;  for  as 
to  the  declaration,  that  the  parties  do  not  belong-  to 
the  Church,  what  is  the  meaning  of  those  words  ? 
What  is  belonging  to  the  Church  ;  or  being  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Church?  Who  does  belong  to  the 
Church  ?  All  those  who  are  baptized  in  the  Church  ? 
It  is  notorious  that  nine  tenths  of  the  present  Dis- 
senters were  so  baptized.  If  belonging  to  the 
Church  means  having  communicated  in  the  Church  ; 
having  been  conlirnied  by  the  bishops,  and  admitted 
to  partake  the  communion,  then  I  venture  to  say, 
that  not  one  man  in  England  out  of  one  thousand 
belongs  to  the  Church.  However,  though  this  is 
a  giving  way,  it  is  a  little  movement  after  the  man- 
ner of  the  hunted  beaver,  and  it  seems  to  illustrate 
the  nature  of  all  the  rest  of  the  grievances.  If  the 
law  that  compelled  Dissenters  to  marry  in  the 
Church  were  just;  if  it  were  a  law  for  the  good  of 
the  people ;  why  not  persevere  in  it  ?  And,  if  it  were 
an  unjust  law,  in  what  does  it  differ,  I  pray,  from  the 
laws  inflicting  the  rest  of  the  grievances  ? 

What  right,  I  should  be  glad  to  know,  have  the 
people  of  a  particular  faith  or  worship  to  compel 
all  the  rest  (probably  four  times  their  number)  to 
be  buried  with  a  ceremony  which  they  disliked 
while  alive  ;  or  else  to  be  excluded  from  the  church- 
yards, which  are  the  common  property  of  all  the 
people  ;  what  right  have  they  to  prevent  the  bodies 
of  Dissenters  being  brought  into  the  church-yard 
with  the  performance  of  their  own  ceremony? 
What  right  has  this  corporation  called  the  Church 
to  arrogate  to  itself  the  right  of  excluding  children 
from  registry  of  birth,  unless  their  parents  subject 
them  to  a  mode  of  baptism,  against  which  they  in 
6* 


66  cobbett's  [Letter 

their  consciences  protest  ?  And  with  regard  to  the 
Universities,  here  is  an  immense  mass  of  power 
and  of  property,  civil  and  political  privileges  end- 
less, emoluments  arising  from  sources  innumerable, 
honours  and  distinctions  without  end,  besides  im- 
mense landed  estates.  And  why  are  Dissenters  to 
be  excluded  from  any  of  these  I  Is  the  ground  of 
exclusion  that  they  do  not  embrace  that  Prayer- 
Book,  which  those  who  enacted  it  called  by  Act  of 
Parliament  schismatical,  and  which  they  after- 
wards re-enacted  and  forced  upon  the  people,  on 
pain  of  banishment  for  life,  or  hanging  on  the  gal- 
lows ?  Is  this  the  ground  that  they  set  up  for  ex- 
cluding other  Protestants  from  sharing  in  these  es- 
tates, which  were  taken  from  the  Catholics  ?  The 
miserable  dispute  about  the  Dissenters  not  being 
suffered  to  take  degrees  in  the  Universities  with- 
out first  embracing  the  common  Prayer  and  the 
act-of-parliament  articles  of  religion  :  the  misera- 
ble dispute  about  this  matter,  the  only  alleged  evil 
of  which  was,  to  retard,  by  three  years,  the  pro- 
gress of  a  Dissenter  to  the  bar,  or  to  the  corpora- 
tion of  physicians  and  surgeons;  which  could  not 
affect  one  Dissenter  out  of  one  hundred  thousand, 
and  which  affected  ninety-nine  out  of  every  hun- 
dred of  Church-Protestants  who  were  going  to  the 
bar,  or  to  medicine  or  surgery :  this  dispute  al- 
ways appeared  to  me  to  be  most  contemptible  ;  and 
to  be  greatly  mischievous  too  ;  because  it  seemed  to 
imply  that,  as  far  as  related  to  the  Universities,  this 
was  ALL  that  the  Dissenters  had  to  complain  of.  This 
has,  it  seems,  been  smoothed  over  by  the  benchers 
and  the  College  of  Physicians  agreeing  to  admit 
the  aspirant  Dissenters  in  the  same  manner  as  if 
they  had  taken  degrees  ;  and  this  too,  observe,  to 
the  manifest  injury  of  all  the  candidates  for  these 


III.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  67 

professions  who  have  not  been  to  pay  money  to  the 
parsons  of  the  Universities. 

What  the  Dissenters  have  a  right  to,  in  this  case, 
is,  promotion  in  the  Universities  according  to  their 
learning,  rank  and  station  there,  according  to  their 
virtues  and  their  talents  ;  both  of  which  they  possess 
in  a  degree  tenfold  greater  than  the  present  posses- 
sors ;  but  above  all  things  they  have  a  rightful  claim 
to  a  full  share  of  the  estates  possessed  by  those 
bodies.  The  foundations,  the  endowments,  were 
taken  from  the  Catholics.  If  it  be  right  that 
Protestants  alone  should  possess  them,  they  beloTig 
to  all  the  Protestants  ;  and  what  right  can  there  be 
other  than  the  right  of  the  strongest,  to  give  the 
whole  to  one  description  of  Protestants  and  to  ex- 
clude all  the  rest  from  any  share  ?  They  are  exclu- 
ded because  they  are  Dissenters.  Dissenters/ro772- 
what  ?  All  Protestants  are  Dissenters  from  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  ;  and  why  are  Dissenters 
of  one  sort  to  be  preferred  before  those  of  another  ? 
Except,  indeed,  that  those  who  are  now  called  Dis- 
senters have  never  attempted  to  fill  their  churches 
by  laws  to  inflict  banishment,  or  death,  on  tho^e 
who  refused  to  attend  ? 

The  Universities,  including  the  great  schools, 
such  as  that  at  Winchester,  Westminster, 
Eton,  and  some  others,  v/ere  founded,  after  the  in- 
troduction of  the  Christian  religion,  for  the  purpose 
of  teaching  those,  and  the  children  of  those  who 
had  not  the  means  of  obtaining  teaching  at  their  own 
expense,  which  is  clearly  proved  by  the  statutes 
of  these  Universities.  The  fellow^s,  or  body  of 
proprietors  of  the  estates,  were  obliged  to  swear 
that  they  had  no  income  of  their  own  above  a  cer- 
tain small  amount:  and  indeed  the  great  intention 
of  all  these  establishments  was,  not  to  give  learn- 


^  cobbett's  [Letter 

ing  to  the  sons  of  the  rich,  but  to  the  sons  of  the 
poor,  who  are  now,  except  by  the  merest  accident 
in  the  world,  as  completely  excluded  from  them  as 
are  the  hares  and  the  pheasants,  which,  whenever 
they  come  there,  come  only  to  be  eaten.  These 
are'now  become  great  masses  of  property,  possess- 
ed and  enjoyed  exclusively  by  the  aristocracy  and 
their  dependants  :  and  indeed  such  is  the  whole  of 
the  property  of  the  Church.  To  come  snivelling, 
therefore,  and  petition  for  liberty  to  take  degrees  in 
the  Universities,  without  subscribing  articles  of  re- 
ligion in  which  the  parties  do  not  believe  ;  to  come 
praying  to  be  permitted  to  take  those  degrees  with- 
out a  false  oath,  is  a  thing  so  despicable  that  no 
man  of  sincerity  will  give  it  his  countenance:  be- 
sides which  it  clearly  Implies  an  approval  of,  or  at 
least  an  acquiescence  in,  (he  just  domination  of  the 
Church  with  regard  to  all  the  immense  masses  ol 
property  belonging  to  these  Universities. 

All  these  exclusions,  however,  great  as  the  inju- 
riousness  of  them  is,  unjust  as  they  are  towards  the 
^reat  body  of  the  people,  and  degrading  as  they  are 
in  their  tendency,  are,  all  put  together,  a  mere  trifle 
compared  with  the  compulsion  upon  the  Dissent- 
ers to  give  the  fruits  of  their  estates  and  the  fruits 
of  their  earnings,  for  the  purpose  of  supporting 
the  established  clergy  and  Church.  Is  there  any 
thing  that  can  be  conceived  more  hostile  to  natu- 
ral justice,  than  for  men  to  be  compelled  to  take 
away  from  the  means  of  supporting  their  families 
a  considerable  part  of  the  fruit  of  their  labour,  and 
to  give  it  to  men  for  preaching  a  doctrine  in  which 
they  do  not  believe,  and  for  performing  a  service 
in  which  their  consciences  forbid  them  to  join  ?  If 
there  be  any  thing  more  hostile  to  natural  justice 
than  this,  I  should  like  to  have  it  pointed  out  to 


in.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS  69 

me.  To  be  sure  they  are  no  longer  compelled,  on 
pain  of  banishment,  or  death,  to  go  into  the  churches 
and  call  God  to  witness  that  they  reverence  that 
which  they  abhor ;  but  they  are  compelled  to  give 
their  money  or  their  goods  in  support  of  it ;  and 
this  indeed  was  all  that  the  banishment  and  the 
hanging  were  intended  to  insure.  If  the  church- 
makers  of  Edward  and  Elizabeth  could  have  ob- 
tained security  for  gettivg  the  money  of  the  Dis- 
senters, as  quietly  as  it  is  now  got,  they  would 
never  have  had  any  Acts  of  Parliament  to  compel 
fhem  to  go  to  church  ;  they  would  have  been  as 
''  liheraV  as  our  present  parsons  now  are  ;  the 
ilocks  might  have  roamed  where  they  had  liked,  as 
they  do  now,  the  shepherds  having  taken  care  to 
secure  the  fleece. 

The  two  great  grievances  of  Dissenters  are,  the 
Church-rates  and  the  tithes.  There  are  schemes 
for  quieting  them  as  to  the  former;  but  what 
schemes  are  these?  None  of  us  ought  to  pay  any 
church-rates.  The  churches  were  kept  in  repair 
out  of  the  clerical  revenues  of  the  parish.  A  third 
part  of  the  tithes  was  allotted  to  the  support  of  the 
edifice  of  the  church  and  to  the  furnishing  of  the  al- 
tar ;  and  if  the  present  clergy  have  the  tithes  by 
right  of  presciption,  does  not  this  duty  come  down 
to  them  too,  in  the  same  way?  However,  this  pre- 
tended prescription  is  all  nonsense.  We  know  that 
the  parsons  and  the  aristocracy  have  the  tithes; 
we  know,  that  out  of  those  tithes  they  ought  to 
keep  up  the  churches  ;  but  we  also  know,  that  they 
raise  the  means  of  doing  this  by  an  annual  tax  on 
the  land  and  the  houses  of  all  persons,  Dissenters 
as  well  as  others. 

This  is  so  manifestly  unjust  towards  the  Dissent- 
ers, who  build  and  maintain  places  of  worship  for 


70  cobbett's  [Letter 

themselves,  at  their  own  cost,  that  it  is  a  grievance 
of  which  they  loudly  complain ;  and,  at  last, 
schemes  of  redress  have  been  proposed.  To  ex- 
cuse a  man  from  this  annual  tax,  upon  the  ground 
of  his  being  a  Dissenter,  would  be  to  put  an  end 
to  the  tax,  at  once  ;  for  there  is  no  test,  or  law,  by 
which  a  Dissenter  is  known  ;  and  every  man  would 
declare^himself  a  Dissenter,  the  moment  he  was 
asked  for  the  tax.  The  scheme  of  Lord  Altiiorp 
was,  to  abolish  the  tax  entirely ;  and  to  pay  the 
church-rates  out  of  ^Ae  consolidated  fund;  and  some 
scheme  of  this  sort  still  appears  to  be  entertained. 
A. beautiful  scheme  this  would  be  ;  a  most  delight- 
ful redress  of  a  grievance  I  The  tax  would  then 
fall  upon  the  Dissenters  far  more  heavily  than  it 
does  now ;  for  nine  tenths  of  the  taxes,  which  make 
up  the  consolidated  fund,  are  paid  by  the  industri- 
ous classes.  The  dissenters  compose  a  great  part 
of  those  industrious  classes  ;  the  tax  now  falls  prin- 
cipally upon  the  owners  and  occupiers  of  land,  who 
would  thus,  according  to  the  course  which  they 
have  been  pursuing  for  three  hundred  years,  and 
which  is  so  very  conspicuous  in  the  monstrous  par- 
tiality in  the  stamp  duties,  shift  the  burthen  from 
their  own  shoulders,  and  throw  it  upon  the  shoul- 
ders of  industry ;  and  the  common  day-labouring 
man,  or  the  artizan,  if  frequenting  the  Church,  who 
is  now  shut  out  to  sit  in  the  aisles  of  that  church, 
while  the  rich  are  seated  in  the  pews,  would  have  to 
pay  church-rates,  in  the  enormous  taxes  which  he 
pays  on  all  the  necessaries  of  life.  This  mon- 
strous scheme  was,  therefore,  rejected  by  the  Dis- 
senters, as  Avell  it  might :  and  there  is  no  other 
mode  of  redress  of  this  grievance,  except  that  of 
compelling  the  owners  of  the  tithes  to  keep  the 
churches  in  repair  ;  and  this;  by  the  Canon  Law  ; 


III.]  LEGACY    TO    PARSONS.  71 

that  is  to  say,  the  laws  of  the  church,  which  laws 
they  avail  themselves  of  upon  all  occasions,  the 
tithe-owners  are  compelled  to  do  unto  this  day. 
But  this  law  is  become  "  obsolete,^-  I  suppose,  as 
all  the  rest  of  the  laws  are,  which  impose  duties  on 
the  tithe-owners  of  this  Church ;  and  "  obsolete" 
they  will  remain,  until  the  people  shall  choose  a 
parliament,  such  as,  I  am  afraid,  we  have  very  little 
hope  of  seeing  at  present. 

I3ut  the  tithes  themselves  are  the  great  grievance, 
after  all.  We  have  seen  how  this  Church  and  the 
aristocracy  came  in  possession  of  them ;  we  have 
seen  that  neither  has  any  right  of  prescription  to 
plead  ;  we  have  seen  the  Acts  of  Parliament  by 
which  they  appropriated  them  ;  and  have  seen  that 
the  Dissenters  never  acknowledged  the  justice  or 
the  right  of  appropriation  ;  but  were  compelled  to 
render  them  by  Acts  of  Parliament,  which  exposed 
them  to  banishment,  or  death,  in  case  of  refusal  to 
yield  them. 

Upon  what  ground  is  it,  then,  that  Dissenters,  at 
any  rate,  are  still  called  upon  to  render  tithes? 
Upon  the  ground  of  Acts  of  Parliament,  I  know 
very  well ;  but  this  present  Parliament  has  the 
power  to  pass  Acts  also  ;  and,' therefore,  it  is  a  mere 
question  of  justice  and  of  expediency  which  we  have 
to  discuss.  If  it  be  unjust  to  make  Dissenters  pay 
clmrch-rates,  the  injustice  is  much  greater,  because 
the  burden  is  much  greater,  to  make  them  pay 
tithes.  It  would  be  perfectly  just  in  the  Parliament 
to  abolish  tithes  altogether;  and  this  will  be  done, 
in  some  way  or  other,  before  it  be  long ;  but  with 
regard  to  Dissenters,  it  is  so  manifestly  unjust  to 
compel  them  to  render  tithes,  that  the  thought  is 
not  to  be  entertained  without  some  degree  of  horror. 
Yet   they  are  so  compelled ;  and  to  pay  personal 


73  cobbett's  [Letter 

tithes,  too,  such  as  Easter-offerings.  Many  Per- 
sons, having  refused  to  pay  oblations,  obventions, 
and  offerings,  have  been  imprisoned '  for  great 
lengths  of  time,  and  are  so  imprisoned  unto  this 
day.  It  is  only  about  two  years,  since  one  parson 
sitting  as  a  magistrate,  imprisoned  a  man  in  York- 
shire for  not  pa\-ing  tithes  on  the  amount  of  his 
labour ;  that  is  to  say,  paying  tithe  on  his  weekly 
and  yearly  wages,  as  a  labourer  !  So  that  this  is  no 
empty  sound  :  it  is  a  reality  ;  it  arises  out  of  Acts 
of  Parliament  by  which  this  new  Church  was  made 
(Statute  2  and  3  Edward  the  Sixth,  chapter  13.) 

Monstrous  as  this  is  with  regard  to  the  people  in 
general,  how  much  more  monstrous  is  it  with  re- 
gard to  Dissenters  !  At  last,  however,  this  great  and 
barefaced  abuse  of  tithes  is  become  a  subject  of 
complaint  so  general,  so  loud,  and  so  menacing, 
that  the  owners  of  them  see  that  it  is  impossible  for 
them  to  hold  them  long  under  their  present  name 
^nd  form.  We  shall  by-and-by  see,  in  a  future  let- 
ter, into  whose  pockets  they  go;  we  shall  see  quite 
enough  instances  of  half  a  dozen  benefices  in  the 
hands  of  one  man  ;  we  shall  by-and-by  see  whether 
they  be  applied  for  the  purpose  of  "  giving  reli- 
gious instruction ;"  but,  in  the  mean  while,  the 
aristocracy  and  their  parsons  perceive,  that  they 
cannot  much  longer  retain  the  exclusive  possession 
of  this  immense  mass  of  wealth,  unless  they  can, 
somehow  or  other,  retain  it  under  a  name  and  form 
other  than  those  which  it  now  bears,  and  under 
which  name  and  form  the  thing  has  become  so  odi- 
ous to  the  people,  and  so  detested  by  them.  There- 
fore, a  scheme  is  on  foot  to  make,  by  Act  of  Par- 
liament, what  is  termed  a  "  COMMUTATION  of 
tithes."  A  commutation  means  a  changing  of  one 
thing  for  another ;  and  this   scheme  is,  to  abolish 


III.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  73 

the  tithes,  and  to  impose  a  money-payment  in  their 
stead. 

How  this  is  to  be  done,  in  any  manner  whatever^ 
it  is  very  difficult  to  imagine  ;  but  one  thing  is  cer- 
tain, that,  if  the  Parliament  have  the  rightful  power 
to  do  this,  it  has  the  rightful  power  to  abolish  the 
tithes,  without  substituting  any  money-payment  in 
iheir  stead  :  that  much  is  certain  ;  and  that  is  what 
will  be  done  at  last,  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  the 
aristocracy  and  the  clergy  to  prevent  it. 

Who  is  to  ascertain  what  the  tithes  of  a  farm  will 
be  worth,  for  any  number  of  years  to  come  ?  What 
rightful  power  can  any  Parliament  have  to  make  a 
man  so  use  his  farm  as  to  make  the  tithes  of  it 
always  of  the  present  value  ?  What  rightful  power 
can  a  Parliament  have  to  compel  a  man  not  to  lay 
his  ground  down  into  pasture  (  What  rightful  power 
to  compel  him  to  pay  the  same  sum  in  tithes,  whether 
he  have  crop  or  no  crop  ?  What  rightful  power  to 
change  a  claim  on  the  increase;  recoverable  by 
one  class  of  laws,  into  a  claim  on  the  soilitself,  re- 
coverable by  another  class  of  laws  ?  Talk  of  the 
sacredness  of  property,  indeed  !  What  property 
has  any  man,  even  in  an  estate  descended  from  his 
ancestors  for  hundreds  of  years,  if  the  Parliament 
have  the  power  to  load  it  with  a  rent-charge^  in- 
stead of  the  yielding  of  a  portion  of  the  increase, 
arising  out  of  the  land  ;  and  that,  too,  dependent  for 
its  amount  on  his  own  mode  of  cultivation,  and  on 
the  seasons  ?  Talk  of  the  sacredness  of  property, 
indeed  ;  and  at  the  same  time  allow  that  the  Parlia- 
ment has  the  power  to  impose  a  rent-charge  on 
every  inch  of  land  in  the  kingdom  ;  to  give  the 
aristocratical  tithe-owners  and  the  parsons  a  lien  in 
fee  on  every  man's  estate,  hovrever  large  or  small, 
and  subject  him  to  the  chances  of  having  his  land 
7 


74  cobbett's  [Letter 

seized  and  sold,  away  from  heirs  as  well  as  present 
possessors,  by  the  parson  or  tithe-owner!  Bad 
enough  to  compel  men  to  yield  a  tenth  of  the  in- 
crease ;  but  a  great  deal  worse  to  make  them  ac- 
knowledge a  perpetual  rent-charge,  to  the  amoun< 
of  a  fourth  or  fifth  part  of  the  estate ;  yet  this  is 
what  is  meant  by  a  "  commutation  of  tithes^ 

It  will  be  curious,  however,  to  see  what  is  to  be- 
come of  the  personal  tithes:  what  is  to  become  of 
the  oblations,  obventions,  and  offerings;  what  is  to 
become  of  the  tithes  payable  on  a  man's  labour,  or 
on  the  existence  of  his  body !  Are  these  to  be 
commuted,  too  ;  and  is  a  man  to  contract  for  giving 
a  parson  so  much  a  year  for  being  alive,  and  so 
much  a  year  for  the  fruit  of  his  labour  ?  In  the  case 
of  tithes  on  mills,  is  the  mill  still  to  pay  the  rent- 
charge,  though  burnt  to  the  ground,  or  swept  away 
by  the  floods  ?  How  are  you  to  commute  the  tithes 
on  market-tolls  ?  How  commute  the  tithes  of  the 
cottage-gardens,  and  of  the  apples  in  their  little 
orchards,  and  of  their  geese,  and  the  eggs  of  their 
hens  ?  How  commute  the  tithes  of  a  dairy-farm, 
when  the  farm  may  cease  to  be  a  dairy-farm  any 
day?  Here  are  all  these  absurdities  to,  encounter  ; 
new  and  hitherto  unperceived  discontents  to  con- 
tend against ;  innumerable  acts  of  injustice  unavoid- 
able ;  whole  estates  actually  made  over  to  the  tithe 
owners  in  cases  of  hop-gardens  and  orchards,  espe- 
cially the  former.  In  short,  the  confusion,  the  in- 
evitable outrageous  injustice,  produced  by  this,  is 
not  to  be  described  by  the  pen  or  tongue  of  man. 

And,  if  it  were  possible,  which  it  is  not,  to  make 
Church-people  submit  quietly  to  it,  would  the  Dis- 
senters be  such  fools  as  to  give  their  consent  to  a 
measure,  which  would  render  this  monstrous  tax, 
and,  to  them,  badge  of  degrading  servitude,  perma- 


III.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  75 

nent  as  tne  land  itself?  Their  industry,  their  great 
proficiency  in  the  sciences,  their  exemplary  sobriety, 
their  perseverance  in  business,  iheir  great  probity 
as  to  all  pecuniary  matters,  and  matters  of  trade  : 
these  have  given  them  the  possession,  the  rightful 
and  well-merited  possession,  of  a  very  considerable 
part  of  the  property  of  this  whole  kingdom  ;  and  at 
these  possessions  they  have  come,  in  spite  of  two 
hundred  years  of  persecution;  two  hundred  years  of 
the  contrivances  of  this  established  Church  ;  two 
hundred  years  of  exclusions, privations,degradations, 
and  bodily  punishments,  as  well  as  ruinous  pecuni- 
ary punishments.  Struggling  along  for  two  hundred 
years,  against  all  the  powers  of  the  state  to  depress 
them  ;  amidst  the  terrors  of  ecclesiastical  censures  ; 
of  bonds,  of  stripes,  of  banishment,  of  death  ;  amidst 
all  these,  they  have  struggled  along  to  their  present 
possessions.  If  they  do  not  merit  their  possessions, 
in  this  whole  world  there  is  nobody  that  does. 

And,  if  this  "  Commutation  of  Tithes"  were  to 
take  place  ;^this  perpetual  rent-charge,  instead  of  a 
yielding  of  a  portion  of  the  increase,  what  would  be 
the  situation  of  a  Dissenter,  whose  industry  had 
given  him  a  landed  estate?  He  now,  from  his  dis- 
like of  the  Church  doctrine,  ritual,  and  discipline, 
contributes  towards  the  maintenance  of  his  own 
church  and  his  own  minister.  He,  naturally,  and 
most  reasonably  and  justly,  grudges  the  yielding  of 
a  tenth  of  the  increase  of  his  land  ;  but  he  has  the 
means  of  mitigating  the  burden,  by  using  the  land 
in  such  a  way  as  to  make  it  as  small  as  possible.  Let 
this  commutation  come,  and  it  fixes  him  with  a  rent- 
charge /or  ever;  takes  from  him,  and  the  owners 
after  him,  a  fifth  part  of  the  property  in  his  estate  ; 
places  him  in  the  situation  of  a  mortgager ;  gives 
him  a  co-partner  in  the  possession  of  his  estate ; 


76  cobbett's  [Letter 

and,  in  some  cases  (and  there  are  many  of  them,) 
when  a  lord,  or  other  great  man,  is  the  owner  ot 
appropriations,  he  will  be  as  a  mortgagee  to  all  the 
land-owners  of  a  whole  district  of  country. 

It  is  impossible  that  Dissenters  can  submit  to  this, 
except  in  the  way  of  yielding  to  downright  force  : 
and  yet  something  must  be  done  to  remove  this  in- 
tolerable grievance  of  tithes.  That  something  will 
be,  at  last,  and  it  would  be  wise  to  let  it  be  at  first, 
a  complete  and  total  abolition  of  tithes  ;  a  complete 
and  total  taking  of  them  away  from  the  established 
Church  ;  and  letting  that  Church  rest,  as  other 
Christian  Churches  do,  upon  its  own  intrinsic 
merits,  and  upon  the  voluntary  support  of  the  peo- 
ple who  like  it ;  the  good  effects  of  which  I  shall 
have  hereafter  to  describe  ;  concluding  this  present 
letter  with  expressing  a  hope  that  I  have  clearly 
proved,  that  the  domination  of  the  established 
Church  over  the  Dissenters  has  no  other  foundation 
than  that  which  was  created  by  Acts  of  Parliament ; 
and  that  those  Acts  of  Parliament  were  founded  in 
injustice  and  enforced  by  the  most  barbarous  means 


LETTER  IV. 

does  the  establishment  conduce  to  religious 
instruction  ? 

Parsons, 

No :  flatly  no  :  if  "  religious  instruction"  mean  a 
teaching  of  the  people  the  principles  and  practice  of 
a  pious  worshipping  of  God,  as  their  Maker,  their 
Preserver,  and  as  a  being  to  whom  they  are  to  be 
answerable  for  all  their  actions  in  this  world :  flatlv 
no! 


IV.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  77 

When  the  Dissenters  object  to  the  union  of  Church 
and  State,  and  insist,  that  the  teachers  of  religion 
ought  to  be  supported  by  the  voluntary  offerings  or 
contributions  of  those  who  choose  to  have  them  ; 
the  ansv/er  which  they  receive  from  both  the  po- 
litical factions  is  ;  that  "  it  is  the  hounden  duty  of 
every  state,  or  government,  to  provide,  by  law,  re- 
ligious instruction  for  the  people  who  live  under 
it."  Nothing  can  be  more  false  than  this  ;  nothing 
more  at  variance  with  the  precepts  and  practice  of 
Christ  and  his  Apostles.  They  never  called  upon 
the  State  for  its  support,  or  for  its  aid  in  any  way  : 
they  taught,  that  the  priest  was  to  live  hy  the  altar ; 
that  is  to  say,  by  the  voluntary  offerings  of  those 
who  came  to  the  altar ;  they  set  up  no  claim  to  any 
lax  upon  tlie  land,  or  u;,on  houses,  or  upon  7?eopZe'.s- 
labour  ;  a  claim  to  a  heavy  tax  on  all  which  is  set 
up,  and  enforced,  by  our  established  Church. 

For  many,  many  ages,  Christians,  in  no  part  of 
the  world,  knew  any  thing  of  compulsory  payments 
to  any  priesthood  ;  and  until  1215  the  Church  of 
Rome  never  pretended,  that  any  tithes  were  de- 
rnandable  by  common  right;  and  it  was  a  long 
time  before  there  was  any  law,  in  any  part  of  this 
country,  to  force  people  to  yield  tithes  of  any  kind 
to  any  body.  And  yet  Christianity  spread  itself  all 
over  Europe,  and  churches  and  cathedrals  rose  up, 
without  any  compulsory  payments  ;  just  as  Dissent- 
ing Meeting  Houses  and  Catholic  Chapels  now  rise 
up,  to  hold  the  millions  who  flee  from,  or  turn  their 
backs  on,  the  established  Church.  When  the  Ro- 
man Catholic  Church  had  recourse  to  the  aid  of  the 
State  to  produce  compulsory  payments  to  it,  it  began 
to  decline  in  the  estimation  of  the  people.  It  grew 
rich,  it  became  luxurious,  it  became  grand  and 
splendid,  and  the  attachment  of  the  people  to  it  be- 
7* 


78  cobbett's  [Letter 

came  feeble  in  the  same  proportion :  till  at  last  an 
attempt  to  raise  money  by  a  sale  of  indulgences, 
in  order  to  apply  that  'money  to  the  building  of  St. 
Peter's  Church  at  Rome  ;  in  order  to  erect  this 
piece  of  ostentation  and  pride  ;  till  at  last  this  at- 
tempt, this  audaciously  profligate  use  of  the  power 
of  the  Pope,  produced  that  open  opposition  which 
led  to  the  protest  against  his  authority  ;  and  hence 
came  Protestants  and  the  Protestant  religion. 

It  is  false,  then,  to  say  that  it  is  the  duty  of  a  State 
or  Government  to  provide,  by  law,  for  the  religious 
instruction  of  the  people.  The  principles  and 
practice  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles  contradict  this 
assertion,  which  is  also  contradicted  by  the  practice 
of  all  Christendom  for  twelve  hundred  years.  But 
it  is  said,  that,  though  every  man  have  the  Bible  in 
his  hands,  there  would  be  an  endless  variety  of  faiths 
if  every  man  were  to  be  his  own  interpreter,  and  if 
there  were  no  arbiter.  An  illustration  of  the  ab- 
surdity of  this  has  been  sought  in  the  case  of  the 
common  and  statute  law  ;  and  it  has  been  said,  what 
would  be  the  situation  of  property  aniJ  of  life,  if 
there  were  no  judge  to  determine  the  meaning  of 
the  law,  and  to  compel  the  parties  to  submit  to  his 
interpretation  ?  This  is  very  naked  sophistry  ;  be- 
cause, if  there  were  no  interpreter  of  the  laws,  no 
arbiter,  by  whose  decision  men  were  to  be  bound, 
men  would  do  injustice  and  great  injury  to  one  an- 
other ;  every  man  would  interpret  in  his  own  favour 
and  to  the  injury  of  his  neighbour  ;  but  in  the  other 
case,  it  is  a  matter  between  man  and  his  Maker  ;  no 
injury  can  arise  to  any  other  person  from  my  wrong 
interpretation  of  the  Scriptures,  considered  as  the 
foundation  of  my  belief,  and  as  the  ground  of  my 
worship ;  and  there  is  no  more  necessity,  for  the 
good  of  society,  that  I  should  believe  the  meaning 


IV.]  LEGACY    TO    PJlRSONS.  79 

of  the  first  chapter  of  St.  John  to  establish  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity/,  than  that  I  should  believe  the 
contrary.  It  may  be  very  desirable  that  the^people 
of  a  country  should  be  all  of  one  faith,  and  all  fre- 
quent the  same  places  of  worship  :  but  it  never  can 
be  desirable  that  the  whole  of  a  people  should  be  hea- 
vily burdened  to  support  the  priests  of  one  particular 
sect,  from  whose  teachings  nine  tenths  of  that  peo- 
ple dissent ;  there  can  exist  a  rightful  power  no- 
where to  uphold  by  force,  by  jails,  by  stripes,  by 
prisons,  by  halters,  a  state  of  things  like  this. 

But,  as  to  "  religious  instruction.^''  Let  us  see 
a  little  what  this  established  Church  does  in  this 
way.  It  is  very  well  known  to  every  body  that 
ever  heard  of  the  matter  at  all,  that  the  greatest  of 
all  the  objections  to  the  Roman  Catholic  religion 
was,  its  ORAL  CONFESSIONS  and  its  absolutions, 
GIVEN  BY  THE  PRIESTS.  This  is  vcry  well  known. 
Now  then,  what  does  this  Church  teach?  Why, 
both  these,  in  principle  and  in  practice.  In  the 
"Visitation  of  the  Sick"  it  is  ordered  by  the 
Rubrick,  that  the  priest  shall  go  to  the  sick  person, 
who  is  to  be  moved  by  the  priest  to  make  a  special 
CONFESSION  OF  HIS  SINS,  after  which  the  priest  is 
to  absolve  HIM  after  this  sort :  "  Our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  who  hath  left  power  to  his  Church  to  absolve 
all  sinners,  who  truly  repent  and  believe  in  him,  of 
his  great  mercy  forgive  thee  ;  and  by  his  authority, 
committed  to  me,  I  absolve  thee  from  all  thy 
SINS."  Here  is  "  oral  confession,''^  here  is  "  absolu- 
tion,'''' as  complete  as  ever  was  heard  of  in  the 
Church  of  Rome.  It  is  well  known  that  the  Pro- 
testant Dissenters,  from  the  very  first,  held  this  in 
abhorrence  ;  and  it  is  equally  notorious  that,  during 
a  hundred  years,  they  were,  by  this  established 
Church,  or  at  its  instigation,  exposed  to  banishment 


80  cobbett's  [Letter 

for  life,  or  to  death  upon  the  gallows,  for  not  going 
to  the  church  and  professiiig  their  belief,  that  this 
confession  and  absolution  were  agreeable  to  the 
will  of  God.  Supposing,  therefore,  the  Church  to 
be  efficient  for  its  intended  purposes,  is  this  to  be 
called  ''religious  instruction;'''  and  is  there  even 
one  single  churchman  in  the  whole  kingdom  who 
will  declare,  that  he  believes  that  any  bishop  or 
parson  has  authorit}^  from  Christ  to  absolve  him  of 
his  sins?  Not  one  single  man,  with  the  exception 
of  the  parsons  and  their  kindred,  and  perhaps  their 
patrons,  will  say  that  he  believes  this.  Here,  then, 
is  a  part  of  the  religious  instruction,  which  it  is 
the  alleged  duty  of  the  State  to  provide  for  us,  and 
for  which  that  State  makes  us  pay  sums  so  enor- 
mous, and  for  not  paying  towards  the  support  of 
which,  as  tithes  upon  the  fruit  of  labouring  men's 
labour,  even  day-labouring  men  are  liable  by  the 
law  to  be  sent  to  jail,  and  sometimes  are  sent  to  jail. 
Let  it  be  observed,  that  this  confession  and  absolu- 
tion are  provided  for  by  act  of  Parliament ;  that 
they  proceed  from  the  law,  and  do  not  arise  from 
the  taste  or  caprice  of  any  man. 

One  part  of  "religious  instruction,"  and  a  great 
part  of  it,  is  the  teaching  of  children  ;  and  tliis  is 
provided  for  by  the  law;  and  pray  observe,  that  it 
is  provided  for  by  the  law,  which  orders,  that  in 
every  parish  the  officiating  minister  shall,  upon 
Sundays  and  holidays,  after  the  reading  of  the  se- 
cond lesson,  openly  in  the  church,  instruct  and  ex- 
amine the  children  of  his  parish,  in  some  part  at 
least,  of  the  Catechism;  and  that  the  fathers,  mo- 
thers, masters,  and  dames,  shall  come  with  their 
children,  servants,  and  apprentices,  to  hear  the  ex- 
amination, and  to  receive  the  orders  of  the  minister 
with  regard  to  the  instrue'-ion  of  the  Children.  Now 


IV.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  81 

I  will  pledge  my  life,  that  there  is  not  one  man  out 
of  every  fifty  thousand  in  England  and  Wales  now 
alive,  who  ever  heard  that  there  was  any  such  law 
as  this.  This  would  be  something  like  "  religions 
instruction  ;"  but  it  does  not  exist ;  if  it  do,  I  should 
like  to  see  the  man  that  ever  saAv  an  instance  of  it. 
If  any  where  practised  once  or  twice  in  the  year,  it 
is  such  a  rarity,  so  small  an  exception,  as  not  to  be 
worth  naming;  though  a  thing  so  positively  enjoin 
ed  by  law ;  and  by  that  law,  too,  which  made  this 
Church,  and  on  which  this  Church  professes  to 
stand. 

But  the  great  test  of  all  is  the  ceremony  of  the 
Communion.  It  is  this  ceremony,  it  is  taking  of 
the  sacrament  according  to  the  rites  and  ceremo- 
nies of  the  Church,  which  is  the  real  test  of  belong- 
ing to,  or  being  a  member  of  the  Church.  Now 
the  law  is  very  positive  in  this  respect.  It  orders, 
"  that  every  parishioner  shall  communicate^  at  the 
least,  three  times  in  the  year,  of  which  Easter  is  to 
be  one  ;"  and  I  remember  that  the  church-warden 
of  the  parish  of  Botley  showed  me  a  printed  pa 
per,  which  he  had  to  fill  up,  to  carry  to  the  visita- 
tion, in  w^hich  was  this  question  for  him  to  answer : 
"  Do  your  parishioners  regularly  communicate,  ac- 
cording to  the  law?"  When  I  asked  him  what  answer 
he  gave  to  that  question,  he  said,  "  None  at  all ;" 
and,  indeed,  I  saw  that  he  answered  none  of  the 
questions,  but  wrote  at  the  bottom  of  the  paper, 
*•  AlVs  welly  I  lived  in  that  parish  fifteen  years. 
The  benefice  was  worth  about  five  or  six  hundred  a 
year;  I  never  even  heard  of  but  two  persons  that 
went  to  the  comm.union  ;  I  have  attended  the  church 
on  Sundays,  many  times,  when  there  has  been  nobody 
in  it  but  myself  and  two  or  three  children,  the  par- 
son, the  clerk,  and   the  parson's  wife,   and  two  or 


S2  cobbett's  [Letter 

three  of  his  children  ;  while  the  Methodist  meeting 
house  was  crammed  three  times  a  day,  so  full  as  for 
many  of  the  people  to  be  standing  outside  of  the 
doors  ;  and  though  this  might  be  rather  a  rare  in- 
stance, it  is  notoriously  pretty  nearly  the  case  all 
over  England  and  Wales. 

But,  what  do  they  do  with  the  LAW  ?  The  law 
positively  commands  that  every  person  shall  com- 
municate at  the  least  three  times  a  year,  of  which 
Easter  is  to  be  one.  Now,  do  I  go  too  far  when  I 
say,  that  not  one  man  out  of  one  thousand  ever 
communicated  in  his  life,  unless  he  be  more  than 
three  score  years  of  age  ?  With  regard  to  the 
young  people  ;  I  mean  those  under  thirty,  or  there 
abouts,  not  only  do  they  never  communicate ;  but 
my  firm  belief  is,  that  not  one  out  of  one  thousand, 
under  thirty  years  of  age,  in  England  and  Wales, 
has  any  knowledge  even  of  the  meaning  of-  the 
word.  Yet,  if  it  be  the  duty  of  the  State  to  pro- 
vide religious  instruction  for  the  people  ;  and  if  it 
have  the  rightful  power  to  tax  the  people  so  enor- 
mously for  the  support  of  its  religious  instructors  ; 
if  it  have  the  rightful  power  to  impose  upon  all  the 
people  a  species  of  religious  instruction  according 
to  its  will,  and  according  to  a  law  of  its  own  en- 
acting, it  is  surely  its  duty  to  see  that  the  instruc- 
tion take  place  ;  to  see  that  the  monstrous  masses 
of  money  paid  by  the  people  are  not  paid  for  no- 
thing ;  to  see  that  the  law  is  not  thus  openly  set  at  de- 
fiance by  people  as  well  as  by  priests  ;  or,  the  re- 
ligious instruction  having  ceased,  is  it  not  the  duty 
of  the  State  to  cause  the  payments  fur  that  instruc- 
tion to  cease  also  ? 

But,  after  all,  the  great  fact  is,  that  tlie  church  is 
not  a  religious  instructor  of  the  people.  Not  a 
twentieth  pi^rt  of  them  go  to  the  church.     As  long 


IV.]  LEGACY   TO  PARSONS.  83 

as  banishment  or  death  compelled  them  to  go ;  as 
long  as  they  were  stigmatized  as  something  bad  and 
wicked,  if  they  did  not  go  ;  so  long  their  dislike 
of  the  church  was  a  sort  of  secret,  kept  to  them- 
selves. Banishment  or  death  hung  over  their  heads 
until  the  reign  of  William  the  Third.  The  Acts 
of  that  reign  (before-mentioned)  emboldened  them 
to  open  their  mouths  a  little,  and  to  withdraw  them- 
selves from  the  Church  ;  subsequent  Acts,  and  pub- 
lic opinion,  made  their  tether  still  longer  and  long- 
er ;  till,  at  last,  they  make  a  merit  of  dissenting, 
and  laugh  at  that,  which  drew  from  their  forefathers 
such  copious  streams  of  tears  and  of  blood. 

The  treatment  of  the  poorer  part  of  the  people 
has  greatly  tended  to  their  alienation  from  the 
Church,  from  the  edifice  of  which  they  have  been 
almost  literally  shut  out.  The  poorer  part  of  the 
people  see  the  rich  seated  in  pews,  while  they  are 
compelled  to  stand  about  in  the  aisles,  exposed  to 
the  draughts  of  air,  and  to  every  possible  inconve- 
nience. The  monstrous  abuses  in  London,  and  in 
other  great  towns,  in  this  respect,  are  beyond  de 
scription.  Those  who  have  not  money,  wherewith 
to  purchase  a  seat,  are  treated  like  dogs.  In  the 
villages,  indeed,  it  is  not  pushed  to  this  extent ; 
but  even  there  the  precepts  of  the  Apostles  are 
pretty  completely  set  at  defiance.  Great  merit  is 
taken  by  those  who  are  teaching  the  poorer  people 
to  read,  and  who  are  subscribing  for  Bibles  to  put 
into  their  hands.  Probably  very  few  of  them.,  com- 
paratively, ever  read  the  books  thus  subscribed  for  ; 
but  those  who  do  read  are  likely  to  tell  others 
what  they  do  read  ;  and  those  who  do  read,  read 
as  follows,  in  the  2nd  chapter  of  the  Epistle  of  St. 
James,  who  really  seems  to  have  been  inspired 
with  a  foreknowledge  of  these  very  days  in  which 


84  cobbett's  [Letter 

we   live,  and  with  the  practice  of  this  Church  as 
established  by  law. 

"  My  brethren,  have  not  the  faith  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  with  respect  of  persons.  For  if  there 
come  unto  your  assembly  a  man  with  a  gold  ring, 
in  goodly  apparel,  and  there  come  in  also  a  poor 
man  in  vile  raiment;  and  ye  have  respect  to 
him  that  weareth  the  gay  clothing,  and  say  unto 
him.  Sit  thou  here  in  a  good  place  ;  and  say  to  the 
poor.  Stand  thou  there,  or  sit  here  under  my  foot- 
stool ;  are  ye  not  then  partial  in  yourselves,  and 
are  become  judges  of  evil  thoughts?" 

One  would  almost  imagine,  that  the  Church-par- 
sons had  read  this  with  all  possible  care ;  and  had 
then  determined  to  act  precisely  in  opposition  to 
it;  and  had  then  fixed  upon  a  plan  and  adopted 
a  series  of  regulations,  the  best  in  the  world  to 
give  effect  to  such  determination.  Men,  however 
liumble  in  life,  have  some  consciousness  of  their 
worth  as  human  beings :  reason ;  natural  reason, 
as  well  as  the  word  of  God,  teach  them,  that  all 
men  are  equal  in  the  eyes  of  God,  at  any  rate. 
The  law  tells  them,  that  the  church  and  the  par- 
son are  appointed  for  the  "cwre  of  souls  ;^^  that  is 
to  say,  the  salvation  of  souls.  All  men  know, 
and  must  know,  that  one  soul  is  as  precious  as  an- 
other; and  that  the  soul  is  not  more  precious  forbeino: 
in  a  body  covered  with  fine  clothes.  All  men  know 
this  :  it  is  obvious  to  the  understandings  of  all  men. 
The  business  at  Church  is,  the  salvation  of  souls  ; 
therefore  this  partiality  ;  this  honour  paid  to  the 
rich,  and  degradation  inflicted  on  the  poor,  is  re- 
volting to  the  very  nature  of  man.  No  man  is  of 
so  base  a  spirit  as  to  like  degradation :  the  poorer 
part  of  the  people,  therefore,  lurn  their  backs  on  the 
Church ;  and  go  to  those  places  of  worship  where 


IV.]  LEGACY  TO   PARSONS.  85 

all  are  upon  a  level.  The  old  Roman  Catholic 
Church  was  too  wise  to  make  these  distinctions : 
all  were  upon  the  floor,  rich  and  poor :  for  that 
short  time,  at  any  rate,  povert}^  ceased  to  be  held 
in  degradation.  This  Established  Church  is  the 
only  church  in  the  world,  or  that  ever  was  in  the 
world,  where  the  poor  are,  or  were,  treated  in  a 
manner  diflerent  from  the  rich. 

If  it  be  the  duty  of  the  State  to  provide  "reli- 
gious instruction"  for  the  people ;  and  if  it  have  a 
rightful  power  to  enact  a  certain  form  of  worship, 
and  to  compel  the  people  to  pay  for  the  support  of 
it;  if  it  have  the  rightful  power  to  compel  the  peo 
pie  to  pay  for  a  Church  service  in  any  particular 
form  of  words,  it  is  its  duty  to  cause  the  Church 
to  adhere  to  that  form,  in  all  and  every  part,  ac- 
cording to  the  law.  The  law  establishing  this 
Church  declares  matrimony  to  be  a  "  holy  religious 
ceremony."  It  declares,  that  this  holy  estate  of  ma- 
trimony ■'  was  instituted  of  God,  signifying  to  us 
the  mystical  union,  that  is  betwixt  Christ  and  his 
Church;  which  holy  estate  Christ  adorned  with 
his  presence,  and  first  miracle  that  he  wrought,  in 
Cana  of  Galilee."  Now,  if  this  be  all  true,  and  if 
the  Parliament  have  the  rightful  power  to  permit 
the  people  to  be  married  by  the  civil  magistrate, 
what  is  there  that  the  Parliament  has  not  the  right- 
ful power  to  do  with  regard  to  this  Church  ?  And, 
is  it  not  evident,  that  this  matrimony  part  of  the 
Church  Establishment  is  virtually  repealed,  the  mo- 
ment you  pass  a  law  to  authorize  marriage  by  the 
civil  magistrate  ? 

There  is  another  part  of  the  law,  which  made  this 

Church,  and  which  appoints  an  order  for  the  Burial 

of  the  dead.     It  orders  this  service  to  be  performed 

at  the  burial  of  every  person,  except  such  as  die 

8 


86  cobbett's  [Letter 

unbaptized,  or  excommunicate,  or  have  laid  violent 
hands  upon  themselves.  But,  we  have  now  a  law, 
which  virtually  repeals  this  part  of  the  law  of  the 
Church.  This  new  law,  passed  without  any  oppo- 
sition from  the  bishops  ;  and  defended  by  Blom- 
FiELD,  bishop  of  London;  authorizes  those  who 
have  the  custody  of  those  unfortunate  poor,  who 
have  no  relations  or  others  to  pay  for  their  Christ- 
ian burial,  to  dispose  of  the  bodies  of  the  said  un- 
fortunate poor,  to  be  taken  away,  and  to  he  cut  to 
pieces  by  surgeons ;  and,  of  course,  be  placed  be- 
yond the  possibility  of  Christian  burial,  according 
to  the  law  on  which  this  Church  stands.  Now 
either  this  service  of  the  "  burial  of  the  dead  "  is  oi 
some  use  in  the  way  of  "  religious  instruction ;' 
or  it  is  not.  If  it  be  not  of  any  use,  why  are  we  to 
suppose  that  any  other  of  the  services,  appointed 
by  the  same  law,  are  of  any  use  ?  If  it  be  of  no  use, 
what  are  we  to  think  of  the  charges  for  consecra- 
ting burying-grounds  ;  what  are  we  to  think  of  the 
dues  exacted  by  the  clergy  for  performing  the  bu- 
rial-service ;  which  dues,  observe,  are  of  immense 
amount  in  the  course  of  a  year.  If  it  be  of  some 
use  :  if  it  do  form  a  part  of  "  religious  instruction;^^ 
if  it  do  conduce  to  religious  feelings,  by  the  great 
attention  it  bestows  upon  the  bodies  of  the  dead  ; 
what  are  Ve  to  think  of  that  Church  whose  bishops 
assented,  in  person,  and  whose  clergy  all  tacitly 
assented,  to  the  depriving  of  the  most  unfortunate 
of  the  poor  o!fJ  this  last  trifling  mark  of  attention  to- 
wards their  remains  ? 

And  after  all  this,  are  we  to  wonder  that  the  peo- 
ple turn  their  backs  on  the  Established  Church? 
Are  we  to  vonder  that  it  is  become  useless,  with 
regard  to  th  om  1  Are  we  to  wonder  at  any  thing  re- 
lating to  the  matter,  except  at  the  impudence  of 


IV.]  LEGACY  TO   PARSONS.  87 

those  who  pretend  to  regard   this  establishment  as 
something  conducing  to  religious  instruction  ? 

I  noticed  in  the  beginning  of  this  letter,  that  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  ceased  to  be  beloved  by 
the  people  in  the  exact  proportion  that  it  obtained 
protection  frona,  the  State  ;  but  there  wanted  a  mo- 
dern instance  for  the  illustration  of  this  principle  ; 
and  that  instance  we  have  most  complete  in  the 
United  States  of  America  ;  a  country,  the  bare 
pronouncing  of  the  name  of  which  frightens  every 
unjust  devourer  of  tithes  and  of  taxes  half  to  death. 
The  excellent  government  of  that  country;  the  wise, 
the  cheap,  the  just  government  of  that  country, 
knows  nothing  of  one  religion  more  than  of  another. 
In  that  country  religious  sects,  religion  itself,  are 
wholly  unknown  to  the  laws.  As  connected  with 
religion,  the  laws  of  the  country  know  nothing  of 
any  man,  and  of  course  there  is  no  compulsion  on 
any  man  to  pay  one  farthing  to  any  body  for  reli- 
gious instruction.  Yet  it  is  agreed  on  all  hands,  it 
will  be  denied  by  nobody,  that  the  people  of  the 
United  States  are  better  instructed  in  religion  than 
any  other  people  in  the  world  ;  and  it  is  curious 
too,  that  Tom  Cranmer's  Prayer  Book  religion  is 
in  that  country  in  a  very  flourishing  state  (with 
some  parts  of  the  Prayer  Book  expunged,)  and  that 
the  bishops  and  parsons  of  that  church  are  as  much 
respected  and  beloved  as  other  religious  teachers 
generally  are ;  and  this  too,  precisely  because  the 
religion  is  not  established  by  law. 

One  reason  for  supporting  this  establishment  is, 
that  if  it  were  destroyed  the  people  would  be  split 
up  into  sects.  What!  wore  than  they  are  now? 
Why  should  they  be  split  up  more  than  they  are 
now  i  Having  got  out  of  danger  of  banishment  and 
ihe  halter,  they  now  follov^  their  own  fancy  in  this 


88  cobbett's  [Letter 

respect ;  each  man  acts  according  to  the  dictates  of 
his  conscience  ;  and  what  could  he  do  more  if  the 
Church  were  broken  up  ? 

Oh  no  !  This  thing  is  not  wanted  for  ^^  religious 
instruction  ;'^  it  is  not  wanted  for  the  teaching  of 
the  people,  or  the  saving  of  their  souls,  but  for  quite 
other  purposes,  of  which  other  purposes  we  shall 
see  enough  in  the  next  letter,  w^hen  we  come  to 
look  at  the  present  actual  state  of  this  establish- 
ment, the  bare  sight  of  which  ought  to  make  its  de- 
fenders drop  down  dead  with  shame.  We  shall 
then  see  a  little  more  as  to  the  natural  effect  on  the 
people  of  the  existence  of  this  Church,  and  of  the 
conduct  of  its  clergy  ;  but  we  have  here  seen  quite 
enough  to  convince  any  reasonable  man,  any  man 
of  common  understanding  and  common  justice,  that 
it  is  a  gross  falsehood  to  pretend  that  this  establish- 
ment ought  to  be  regarded  as  a  thing  necessary  to 
the  "  religious  instruction^^  of  the  people. 


LETTER  V. 

WHAT  IS  THE  PRESENT  STATE  OF  THE  CHURCH  ES- 
TABLISHMENT ?  AND  IS  IT  POSSIBLE  TO  REFORM 
IT? 

Parsons, 

The  answer  to  the  first  of  these  questions  will  go 
pretty  nearly  to  answer  the  second ;  because,  though 
no  human  being  can  describe  the  present  state  ol 
this  Church  in  its  true  colours  ;  though  the  Church, 
in  its  present  state,  is  a  thing  so  contrary  to  natural 
justice,  so  outrageously  insulting  to  the  reason  and 
common  sense  of  the  nation  ;  that  neither  pen  noi 
tongue   can  furnish  an  adequate  description  of  it ; 


v.]  LEGACY    TO    PARSONS.  89 

Still  that  which  I  shall  be  able  to  state  will  be  enough 
to  show  to  every  man  of  sense  and  reflection,  that 
this  establishment  admits  of  no  reform  ;  and  that, 
as  it  arose  out  of  Acts  of  Parliament,  so  it  ought  to 
be  put  an  end  to  by  Acts  of  Parliament. 

I  shall  consider  the  state  of  the  Church  under  two 
heads:  its  REVENUES;  and  the  PERFORM- 
ANCE OF  ITS  DUTIES  :  and  I  must  beseech  the 
reader's  attention,  not  only  to  the  facts  that  I  have 
to  state ;  but  to  the  proofs  which  I  produce  of  the 
truth  of  those  facts,  moving,  as  I  shall,  not  one  sin- 
gle step  without  undoubted  proof  of  every  single 
fact. 

With  regard  to  the  revenues  of  the  Church,  they 
consist,  in  the  first  place,  of  tithes  ;  and  these  are 
personal,   predial,    and    mixed.      Personal    tithes 
consist  of  what  are  called  oblations,  ohventions,  and 
offerings  ;  and  these  are  commanded  to  be  paid  by 
the  Act  2d  and  3d  Edward  the  Sixth,  chapter  13. 
These  tithes  arise  from  the  profit  of  the  personal 
labour  of  a  man,  in   the  exercise  of  any  art,   trade, 
or  employment.     They  are  exacted  to  this  day.     I 
have  paid  Easter-offerings  all  my  life-time ;  and 
the  sum  collected  in  this  way,  in  the  great  towns,  is 
perfectly  enormous.     Within  my  recollection  many 
men  have  been  put  into  jail,  and  kept  there  for  a 
long  time,  for  refusing  to    make    these   payments, 
they  being  Dissenters,  and  the  payment  being  con- 
trary to  their  consciences.     But,  upon  this  head  we 
have  a  parliamentary  document,  printed  by  order 
of  the  House  of  Commons,  in   1833,  showing  the 
extent  to  which  the  parsons  push  this  species  of  de-  ' 
mand.     This  document  was  laid  before  the  House 
in  the  month  of  August,  1833.     It    showed,   that 
Francis  Lundy,  rector  of  Lockington,  in  the  East 
8* 


90 


cobbett's  [Letter 


Riding  of  the  county  of  York,  charged  with  tithes 
the  following  working-men  of  his  parish. 

°  Sums 
Wages.        demanded. 

L    s.  d.  L    s.     d. 

Jeremiah  Dodswprth  for  last  year 13    0  0  0    4    4 

Ditto  this  year,  hired  weekly 5    0  0  0     5    0 

WiUiamHall 10  10  0  0    3    6 

Harrison  Moment 9    0  0  0    3    0 

Henry  Biakeston 15    0  0  0    5    0 

William  Foster 8    8  0  0    2    8 

George  Fenbv ^     ^  0  0    2    0 

John^HallValfayear 10  10  0  0    3    6 


John  Milner 


15     0     0         0     5     0 


Matthew  Biakeston 8  8  0  0  2  8 

Cailin-Risim-.- 16  0  0  0  5  4 

John  Dodsworth 1^^  0  0  0  5  0 

W^illiam  Fallowfield,  miller,  servant 18  0  0  0  6  0 

Robert  Braithwaite,  do.  promised  to  com- 
pound, but  now  refuseth* 15  0  0  0  5  0 

Jeremiah  Dodsworth  refused  to  pay.  He  was 
summoned  before  two  magistrates,  John  Blan- 
CHARD,  a  parson,  and  Robert  Wylie  ;  who  sen- 
tenced him  to  pay  the  four  shillings  and  fourpence, 
and  the  costs  and  charges  of  the  prosecution.  He 
still  refusing  to  pay,  the  same  two  magistrates  is- 
sued a  warrant  of  distress  against  his  goods  and 
chattels.  He  having  no  goods  and  chattels,  John 
Blanchard,  the  parson,  as  magistrate,  committed 
him  to  the  House  of  Correction  at  Beverly,  there 
to  he  kept  for  the  space  of  three  calendar  months, 
as  punishment  for  not  paying  his  tithes  !  Now, 
observe,  the  Act  before-mentioned  of  2nd  and  3rd 
of  Edward  the  Sixth,  chapter  13,  exempts  from 
payment  of  personal  tithes,  day  labouring  men, 
and  Jeremiah  Dodsworth  was  a  day  labouring 
man.  The  law  has  long  laid  it  down,  that  no  per- 
sonal tithes  are  due  from  servants  in  husbandry ; 
because,  by  their  labour,  things  are  produced  which 

*  The  pound  sterling  is  S4  80 ;  a  shilling  sterling  is  24  cents, 
and  a  penny  sterling  is  as  near  as  can  be  to  two  cents. 


v.]  LEGACY    TO    PARSONS.  91 

pay  tithes.  But  now,  you  will  say,  how  came  jw5- 
tices  of  the  peace  to  have  any  thing  to  do  with  this 
matter  ?  Tithes  were  an  affair  known  only  to  the 
ecclesiastical  courts ;  but  the  parsons  wanted  a 
swifter  way  to  come  at  poor  men.  They,  there- 
fore, procured  to  be  passed,  in  the  7th  and  8th  of 
William  the  Third,  "  An  Act  for  the  viore  easy  re- 
covery of  small  tithes.  This  Act,  which  was  first 
passed  for  three  years,  and  afterwards  made  per- 
petual, by  the  3d  of  Anne,  chapter  18,  made  pro- 
vision that  two  justices  of  the  peace  might  issue 
their  warrant  of  distress  against  a  person  refusing 
to  pay  tithes.  This  act  extended  to  all  tithes  un- 
der the  value  of  forty  shillings  ;  and  this  Act  took 
care  to  make  no  exceptions  with  regard  to  day  labour- 
ers and  servants  in  husbandry.  It  enacted,  that 
"  all  and  every  person  or  persons^"*  should  pay  of- 
ferings, oblations,  and  obventions.  Thus,  was  the 
Act  of  Edward,  with  regard  to  day  labourers  and 
servants  in  husbandry,  set  aside ;  and  the  tithe- 
claimers  were  let  loose  upon  the  whole  of  the  comx- 
munlty,  with  their  two  justices  of  the  peace  to  is- 
sue distraints  on  goods  and  chattels. 

But  (and  I  beg  my  readers  to  mark  it  well)  this 
Act  did  not  go  to  the  length  o{  sending-  to  jail  per- 
sons Avho  had  no  goods  and  chattels  !  That  was 
reserved  for  the  "  enlightened  nineteenth  century  ; 
and  for  the  ^^  beneficent  reign^  as  Sir  Robert 
Peel  called  it,  of  the  great  big  "  SOVEREIGN," 
so  famed  for  his  exploits  on  Virginia  Water.  In 
the  fifth  year  of  his  '^glorious  reign,"  an  Act  was 
passed  (5  Geo.  IV.  chapter  18)  to  authorize  magis- 
trates to  send  men  to  jail,  in  cases  where  they  had 
nothing  to  distrain  upon.  Under  this  Act  it  was 
that  this  John  Blanchard,  the  parson,  by  his  sin- 
gle authority  and  warrant,   committed  jEREMiAa 


93  cobbett's  [Letter 

DoDswoRTH  to  jail  for  three  months,  for  not  pay- 
ing to  his  brother  parson,  Francis  Lundy,  four 
shillings  and  four  pence  for  offerings,  oblations, 
and  obventions  !  This,  then,  is  the  law  !  Is  this 
law  to  continue  ?  Will  Sir  Robert  Peel's  Church 
reform  suffer  this  law  to  continue  ?  If  he  do  not 
suffer  it  to  continue,  he  must  abolish  tithes  ;  and, 
if  he  can  abolish  these  tithes,  why  not  abolish  other 
tithes  ?  I  leave  this  for  Sir  Robert  Peel  to  re- 
flect upon  ;  just  observing  of  Lundy  and  Blan- 
chard,  that  they  were  both  pluralists  ! 

So  much  for  personal  tithes.  Next  comes  the 
tithe  on  mills,  which  is  a  sort  of  personal  tithe  al- 
so. The  next  class  is,  the  predial  tithes,  as  of 
corn,  hay,  wood,  hemp,  hops,  and  all  kinds  of  fruit, 
seeds,  and  herbs.  The  tithes  on  pasturage,  com- 
monly called  agistment  tithes  ;  tithes  on  milk,  on 
all  young  animals,  on  eggs,  on  young  fowls,  on 
young  birds  (except  game.)  Tithes  are  payable  on 
acorns  ;  every  thing  that  grows  in  a  garden.  The 
mast  of  beech  pays  tithes  ;  rabbits  in  a  warren  are 
titheable  ;  pigeons  are  titheable  ;  but  deer  are  not! 
Deer,  hares,  pheasants,  and  partridges,  are  not 
titheable,  because  they  are  "  wild  animals,''^  though 
the  high  blooded  nobility  of  England  now  breed 
them  for  sale,  and  sell  them.  My  God  !  how  impu- 
dent, as  weir  as  unjust,  are  these  things  ! 

Thus  we  see  how  large  a  portion  of  all  the 
produce,  even  of  our  very  labour,  is  taken  from  us 
by  this  Church.  Besides  the  tithes,  this  Church 
has  all  the  immense  property  attached  to  the 
Universities  and  their  colleges;  all  the  immense 
mass  of  property  attached  to  the  great  schools ; 
estates  without  number  and  without  bounds  ;  all 
belonging  to  the  whole  of  the  people  at  large,  and 
all  swallowed  up  by  a  handful  of  the  aristocracy, 


V.J  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  93 

their  relations,  and  dependants.  For  ail  this  pro- 
perty a  great  deal  ought  to  be  done  for  the  people  ; 
and  is  it  not  curious  that,  while  the  amount  of  this 
revenue,  not  so  little,  in  England  and  Wales,  as  six 
millions  a  year  ;  is  it  not  curious  ;  is  it  not  offensive 
to  one's  feelings ;  is  it  not  an  insult  to  call  us  an  en- 
lightened people,  and  to  brag  about  the  light  of  the 
nineteenth  century ;  to  have  the  audacity  to  accuse 
our  forefathers  of  tame7iess  and  of  ignorance  ;  and 
to  issue  a  Royal  Commission  at  the  sam.e  time,  con- 
sisting of  bishops,  archbishops,  and  the  prime  min- 
ister, '■''to  devise  the  means  of  providing  for  the. 
cure  of  souls  ;"  that  is  to  ssh',  to  devise  the  means 
of  causing  this  revenue  to  be  given  to  men  who 
vi^ill  reside  in  the  parishes^  and  teach  the  people  the 
Church  religion ! 

I  now  come  to  speak  of  the  performance  of  the 
duties  of  this  Church,  having  first  to  observe,  how- 
ever, that  with  regard  to  the  whole  amount  of  its 
revenue  of  all  sorts,  special  care  has  been  taken  to 
give  us  no  official  account  of  what  that  amount  is. 
Return  upon  return  have  been  made  by  the  bishops ; 
but  alv/ays  keeping  this  important  fact  out  of  sight. 
They  have  always  been  forward  to  tell  us  how  many 
small  livings  there  are,  and  what  is  the  amount  of 
the  revenue  of  each  of  these  ;  but  never  have  they 
told  us  how  many  great  livings  there  are,  and  what 
is  the  amount  of  each  of  them  ;  nor  have  they  ever 
told  us  how  the  small  livings  came  to  be  small,  when 
we  w^ell  know,  that,  at  the  Reformation,  they  were 
all  so  settled  as  for  none  to  be  too  small :  we  must, 
therefore,  by-and-by,  hunt  out  the  cause  of  their  be- 
ing small  as  well  as  we  can. 

With  regard  to  the  performance  of  the  duties 
of  the  Church,  every  man,  when  he  enters  into  holy 
orders,  makes  a  positive  declaration  before  God,  at 


94  cobbett's  [Lettei 

the  altar,  in  the  presence  of  the  bishop,  that  "  he 
verily  believes,  that  he  is  inwardly  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  to  take  upon  him  this  office  and  admi- 
nistration, to  serve  God  for  the  promoting  of  his 
glory,  and  the  edifying  of  his  people,  that  he  is  de- 
termined, with  the  Scriptures,  to  instruct  the  people 
committed  to  his  charge  ;  that  he  will  give  his  faith- 
ful diligence  always  so  to  minister  the  doctrine 
and  sacraments,  and  the  discipline  of  Christ,  as  the 
Lord  hath  commanded,  and  as  this  realm  hath  re- 
ceived the  same  according  to  the  commandment  of 
God  ;  that  he  will  teach  the  people  committed  to  his 
cure  and  charge,  witU  all  diligence  to  keep  and  ob 
serve  the  same  ;  that  he  will  be  ready  with  all  faith- 
ful diligence  to  banish  and  drive  away  all  errone- 
ous and  strange  doctrines  contrary  to  God^s  word ; 
and  to  use  public  and  private  admonitions  and  ex- 
hortations, as  well  to  the  sick  as  to  the  whole,  with- 
in his  cure,  as  need  shall  require,  and  occasion  be 
given  ;  that  he  will  be  diligent  in  the  prayers  and 
in  the  reading  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  in  such 
studies  as  help  to  the  same,  laying  aside  the  study 
of  the  world  and  the  flesh ;  that  he  will  be  diligent 
to  frame  and  fashion  himself  and  his  family  accord- 
ing to  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  that  he  may  be  a  whole- 
some example  and  spectacle  to  the  flock  of  Christ ; 
and  that  he  will  maintain  and  set  forward  quietness, 
peace,  and  love  among  all  Christians,  but  specially 
among  them  that  are  or  shall  be  committed  to  his 
charge  ;"  having  made  these  declarations  and  pro- 
mises, hf  olem  ily  ratifies  and  confirms  them  by 
receivin's         ^     y  communion  ! 

Besides  .:•  -  he  vicars  (and  about  one  third  of 
the  benefices  are  v'icarages)  were,  before  the  passing 
of  the  act  of  the  43rd  of  Geo.  III.  chapter  84  (of 
which  act  I  shall  have  to  say  a  great  deal  by-and- 


v.]  .  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  95 

by,)  compelled  to  TAKE  AN  OATH  on  the  Evan- 
gelists, that  they  would  be  constantly  resident  with 
their  flocks:  This  oath  was  not  deemed  necessary 
in  the  case  of  a  rector ;  but  the  vicar  being  an  infe- 
rior person,  it  was  thought  necessary  to  bind  him 
with  an  oath,  over  and  above  the  bindings  of  his 
solemn  declaration  on  taking  orders.  Yet,  in  the 
face  of  these  solemn  vows,  in  the  face  of  the  decla- 
ration that  each  man  of  them  believed  himself  moved 
hy  the  Holy  Ghost  to  take  upon  him  the  cure  of  souls; 
in  defiance  of  the  solemn  ratification  of  their  decla- 
rations and  promises  by  receiving  the  holy  commu- 
nion ;  despite  of  all  these,  a  return  made  by  the 
bisshops  to  the  king  in  council,  in  1811,  and  commu- 
nieated  by  the  king  in  council  to  the  parliament, 
there  were,  when  that  return  was  mdi(\e,  tenthousand 
four  hundred  and  twenty-one  benefices;  and  of  those 
hene&ces  five  thousand  three  hundred  and  ninety- 
seven  of  the  incumbents  were  resident  on  their  be- 
nefices, and^i^e  thousand  and  twenty  four  were  not 
resident  on  their  benefices  ;  and  of  course  were  not 
fulfilling  their  vows  made  at  their  ordination  ! 

But  we  now  come   to  a  memorable  epoch  and 
transaction  in  the  history  of  this  Church  ;  namely, 
the  act  of  Parliament  of  1S03,  43rd  of  George  the 
Third,  chapter  84.    The  reader  should  be  informed, 
that,  during  the  late  "  glorious'"  war  against  the  re- 
publicans of  France,  a  total  change  took  place  with 
regard  to  the  conduct  of  the  clergy  of  thi:;  church. 
The  French,  broken  loose  from  the  fang?  'Of  their 
tyrants,  had  committed  deeds  which  filled  all  the 
world,  and  particularly  the  English  people,  with 
horror.     They  had  put  down  their  church,  and  all 
its  trappings  and  its  tithes.     They  had  almo.'-*^^^^*^ 
claimed  themselves  Atheisms.     T^^  jgp  e  reason- 
sons,  not  only  for  their  f/wn  sec~^^^^  ^^^'  passed 
^  ant ;  namely,  13th 


96  cobbett's  [Letter 

aggrandizement,  as  they  thought,  took  advantage  of 
these  things  ;  they  represented  all  Dissenters  gene' 
rally,  and  every  man  who  dared  to  utter  a  word  by 
way  of  complaint  against  tithes,  or  against  the 
Church,  as  a  friend  of  the  French  atheists ;  as  a 
jacobin,  a  leveller,  a  revolutionist,  and  a  rebel  in 
his  heart.  They  succeeded  :  and  during  that  war 
innumerable  persons  were  punished  by  heavy  fines 
and  imprisonment,  for  mere  inuendos;  for  merely 
hinting,  with  regard  to  the  clergy  and  the  Church, 
only  a  hundredth  part  of  what  is  now  explicitly  de- 
clared against  them  in  every  newspaper  in  the 
kingdom. 

In  this  state  of  things,  nineteen  twentieths  of  the 
nation  blinded  and  deluded,  and  the  other  twentieth 
silenced  by  the  fear  of  pecuniary  ruin,  or  a  jail,  the 
clergy  set  the  laws  of  residence  openly  at  defiance, 
bid  defiance  to  their  parishioners  in  this  respect.  And 
now  be  pleased,  reader,  to  pay  great  attention  to  what 
these  laws  of  residence  were.  The  Act  of  21  Henry 
VIII.  chapter  13,  provided  for  the  residence  of  in- 
cumbents. This  act  has  the  following  preamble  : 
"For  the  more  quiet  and  virtuous  increase  and  main- 
tenance of  divine  service,  the  preaching  and  teaching 
the  Word  of  God,  with  godly  and  good  example 
given,  the  better  discharge  of  curates,  the  mainte- 
nance of  biispitality,  the  relief  of  poor  people,  the 
increase  of  devotion,  and  good  opinion  of  laymen 
*owar»1  the  spiritual  persons."  The  Act  was  emii- 
tled,  "  Spiritual  persons  abridged  from  having  pln- 
H'alit^s  of  livings  and  from  talking  of  farms."  There' 
tras  a  heavy  penalty  imposed  by  this  act  against 
-^sons  who  slould  procure  more  than  one  benefice; 
the  beutY^^  shoujj  ^^  absent  from  his  living  and 
of  the  <irt~6i  t!]ise  ;  any  one  who  should  farm, 
which  act  I  shall  .  provision  for  himself  and  his 


v.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  97 

household ;  any  parson  who  should  buy  any  thing  to 
sell  again,  whether  merchandise,  corn,  or  cattle,  or 
any  other  thing  ;  any  parson  who  should  offend  in 
any  of  these  respects  was  made  liable  to  an  informa- 
tion qui  tarn ;  the  one  half  of  the  forfeiture  to  go 
to  the  king,  and  the  other  half  to  the  informer, 
"  suing  for  the  same  in  the  king's  courts."  There 
were  divers  exceptions  with  regard  to  chaplains  of 
the  king,  of  the  bishops,  and  of  the  great  nobility  ; 
and  in  these  excepted  cases  the  clergyman  might 
liave  two  benefices  ;  but  as  to  the  general  mass  of  the 
parochial  clergy  the  act  was  express,  and  even  to- 
wards the  clergy  of  the  cathedrals.  This  clause  of 
the  act  expressly  says,  that  "  every  archdeacon, 
dean,  prebendary,  parson,  or  vicar,  shall  be  person- 
ally resident  and  abiding  in,  at,  and  upon,  his  said 
dignity,  prebend,  or  benefice''^  (or  at  one  of  them  in 
the  exceptions,  where  he  was  allowed  to  have  two;) 
and  "  in  case  of  such  spiritual  person  not  keeping 
residence,  but  absenting  himself  wilfully  by  the 
space  of  one  month  together,  or  by  the  space  of  two 
months,  to  be  accounted  at  several  times  in  any  one 
year,  and  make  his  residence  and  abiding  in  any 
other  place  by  such  time,  that  then  he  shall  forfeit 
for  every  such  default  ten  pounds  sterling ;  the 
one  half  thereof  to  the  king  our  sovereign  lord,  and 
the  other  half  thereof  to  the  party  that  will  sue  for 
the  same  in  any  of  the  king's  courts  by  original  writ, 
debt,  bill,  plaint,  or  information  ;  in  which  actron 
nnd  suit  the  defendant  shall  not  wage  his  law,  nor 
have  essoin  or  protection  allowed." 

Now,  this  was  the  law,  descending  down  from 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  never  repealed 
nor  infringed  on.  And  what  could  be  more  reason- 
able than  this  ?  There  was  another  Act,  passed 
after  the  country  became  Protestant ;  namely,  13th 
9 


98  cobbett's  .  [Letter 

Elizabeth,  chapter  20,  providing  that  no  lease  of 
any  benefice  should  endure  longer  than  the  incum- 
bent should  he  resident  in  his  parish ;  and  that,  if 
any  one  offended  against  this  Act,  he  was  to  forfeit 
a  year's  profit  of  his  benefice.  And  now  we  come 
to  the  GRAND  BLOW  of  the  Church.  I  have  descri- 
bed, before,  the  state  of  arrogance  and  insolence  at 
which  the  clergy  had  arrived  during  the  French 
war ;  I  have  described  the  pitch  of  total  disregard 
of  the  people,  at  which  they  had  arrived,  in  spite 
of  the  existence  of  these  laws,  which  enabled  any 
body,  and  particularly  their  parishioners,  to  inform 
against  them  for  absenting  themselves  from  their 
duty.  If  their  VOWS  and  their  OATHS  passed  for 
nothing  with  them,  here  was  the  positive,  unequivo 
cal  letter  of  the  law;  and,  recollect,  that  ten  pounds 
sterling,  at  the  time  when  the  law  was  passed,  was 
equal  to  two  hundred  pounds  sterling  in  the  middle 
of  the  French  war.  In  thie  state  of  things,  however, 
with  the  people  nineteen  twentieths  blinded  and 
frightened,  and  the  other  twentieth  not  daring  to 
open  their  lips,  who  was  to  enforce  the  law  ?  Where 
was  to  be  found  a  man  who  dared  to  lay  an  infor- 
mation against  a  parson  for  trafficking,  or  for  being 
absent  from  his  living?  At  last  there  was  such  a 
man  found;  and,  in  1799,  and  1800,  a  Mr.  Wil- 
liams, who  had  been  secretary  to  one  of  the  bishops, 
laid  informations  against  hundreds  of  the  clergy  ; 
and  had  the  informations  in  the  Court  of  King's 
Bench  ;  some  of  them  carried  on  to  the  stage  of 
conviction. 

Well,  this  reminded  the  defaulters  of  the  law,  to 
be  sure,  and  of  their  duty?  There  was  no  remedy 
but  to  pay  the  penalties,  and  the  penalties  were 
enormous,  notwithstanding  the  change  in  the  value 
of  the  money ;  for  scores  of  the  parsons,  in  spite  of 


v.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  99 

their  vows  and  their  oaths,  had  been  absent  from 
their  livings,  or  had  been  farming  and  trafficking, 
for  years.  However,  there  was  no  remedy :  the 
law  was  positive,  express,  and  plain  ;  and  no  ex- 
fost  facto  law  could  be  passed  without  a  violation 
of  the  constitution.  Now  hear  it;  not  oh  Heavens  ! 
or  oh  earth  !  but  oh  !  injured  and  insulted  people 
of  England  !  hear  what  I  am  about  to  say.  In  the 
year  1801,  soon  after  the  bringing  of  the  actions 
aforementioned,  the  Parliament,  which  Welling- 
ton said  was  the  best  possible  Parliament,  passed 
an  Act  (41st  Geo.  HI.,  chapter  102)  to  compel  the 
Court  of  King's  Bench  to  stay  the  'proceedings  in 
the  aforementioned  actions,  till  the  25  of  March, 
1802.  Before  that  25  of  March  came,  the  same 
Parliament  passed  another  Act  (42d  Geo.  III.,  chap- 
ter 30)  to  stay  the  proceedings  in  those  actions  still 
further,  until  the  25  day  of  July,  in  that  same  year, 
1802.  Before  July  came  it  passed  another  Act  (42d 
Geo.  HI.,  chapter  86)  to  stay  the  proceedings  under 
the  Act  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  and  also  under  the 
Act  of  Elizabeth,  until  the  8th  day  of  April,  1803. 
Thus,  by  these  Acts  of  Parliament,  clearly  ex-post 
facto  ;  clearly  in  violation  of  the  express  written 
law;  clearly  taking  from  the  informer  his  property, 
and  holding  it  in  abeyance;  thus,  by  this  ex-post 
facto  law,  the  parsons  were  protected  in  their  de- 
linquencies for  two  whole  years,  and  the  informer 
subjected  to  the  amount  of  his  costs,  and  exposed  to 
ruin,  having  the  cry  of  Atheist  and  Jacobin  set  up 
against  him,  because  he  obeyed  the  law  in  endeav- 
ouring to  punish  these  parsons  for  having  neglected 
their  duty,  and  broken  their  vows,  and  their  oaths ! 
But,  we  have  only  seen  the  beginning  of  this  memo- 
rable transaction.  There  is  the  end  to  come  yet. 
The  actions  having  been  suspended  until  April,  1803, 


100  cobbett's  [Letter 

this  suspending  work  was  brought  to  a  close  by  the 
Act  of  43  Geo.  III.,  chapter  84,  which  Act  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  total  overthrow  of  the  Churchy 
though  it  was  passed  at  the  clamorous  instigation 
of  the  parsons  themselves.  It  enacted  that  every 
spiritual  person,  who,  before  that  Act,  had  incurred 
pecuniary  penalties  for  non-residence,  or  farming, 
should  he  free  and  discharged  from  the  same  ;  that 
all  the  actions  already  commenced  should  be  render- 
ednull ;  that,  where  convictions  had  taken  place,  the 
informers  should  receive  no  more  than  ten  pounds, 
be  the  amount  of  the  penalty  what  it  might ;  and 
that,  as  for  the  other  actions  where  convictions  had 
not  taken  place,  they  should  cease  and  have  no 
effect ;  and  that  such  actions  should  be  dismissed  or 
discontinued  by  order  of  the  Court,  without  pay- 
ment of  costs !  This  glorious  Act  then  went  on  to 
repeal  and  annul  all  the  informations  qui  tarn  ;  to 
authorize  parsons  to  be  farmers,  and  to  buy  and 
sell  corn  and  cattle  ;  to  authorize  the  bishops  to 
give  license  to  \vhat  parsons  they  liked,  to  farm,  to 
be  absent  from  their  livings ;  and,  in  short,  to  do 
what  they  chose  to  permit 'them  to  do  contrary  to 
the  character  of  clergymen.  This  Act  was  brought 
in  by  Sir  William  Scott,  who  was  then  Member 
for  the  University  of  Oxford  ;  and  it  passed,  with- 
out the  smallest  opposition,  on  the  7  of  July,  1903. 
It  did  not  expressly  exonerate  the  clergy  from  the 
vows  and  promises  made  at  their  ordination  :  but  it 
expressly  repealed  the  obligation  on  the  vicars  to 
take  the  oath  of  residence  at  their  induction,  as  will 
be  seen  by  a  reference  to  clause  37  of  the  Act. 

It  is  curious  that  this  Act  was  entitled,  "  An  Act 
to  Amend  the  laws  relating  to  Spiritual  Persons 
Holding  of  Farms,  and  for  the  Enforcing  the  Res- 
idence of  Spiritual  Persons  on  their  Benefices  in 


v.]  LEGACY  TO   PARSONS.  101 

Englandy  How  completely  it  succeeded  we  have 
seen  ;  for,  in  eight  years  after  the  Act  was  passed, 
out  of  ten  thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty-one 
benefices,  live  thousand  and  twenty-four  were  with- 
out resident  incumbents,  even  according  to  the 
showing  of  the  bishops  themselves,  who  would,  ol 
course,  do  every  thino-  in  their  power  to  make  the 
thing  appear  as  little  bad  as  possible  !  Hence  it  is 
that  crowds  of  these  incumbents  live  upon  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe  ;  hence  it  is  that  the  wealth  of  the 
parishes  is  withdrawn  from  them  ;  hence  it  is  that 
these  swarms  of  drones  come  and  take  the  honey 
from  the  hive,  and  carry  it  out  of  the  country  ;  and 
hence  it  is  that  there  are,  in  fact,  no  Church  people 
lelt,  except  the  aged,  who  follow  their  habits  of 
fifty  years  ago,  and  those  who  have  an  interest  in 
upholding  this  prodigious  mass  of  abuse.  In  the 
mean  while,  the  clergy  have  assumed  the  sword  of 
the  magistrate  ;  having  lost  the  powers  ql  persua- 
sion, they  have  resorted  to  force  ;  laid  down  the 
Bible  and  taken  up  the  Statute  Book.  They  are 
every  where  found  foremost  in  a  rigid  execution  of 
the  penal  laws.  Thev  read  the  Communion  Ser- 
vice, and  enjoin  on  their  congregations,  by  a  whole 
string  of  precepts  from  Holy  Writ,  to  be,  above  all 
things,  merciful  and  good  to  the  poor  ;  and,  at  this 
very  moment,  we  see  Parson  Capper  recommend- 
ing the  separation  of  the  unfortunate  poor  man  from 
his  wife  ;  and  both  from  their  children  ;  and  we  see 
Parson  Lowe  in  the  high  tide  of  practising  upon 
the  recommendation.  Do  they  hear  Zeciiariah 
say,  "Woe  to  the  idle  shepherd  that  leaveth  the 
flock?"  Do  they  read  the  words  ofEzExiEL?  "Woe 
be  to  the  shepherds  of  Israel  that  do  feed  them- 
selves !  Should  not  the  shepherds  feed  the  flocks? 
Ye  eat  the  fat,  and  ye  clothe  you  with  the  wool,  yo 
9* 


102  coBBETT's  [Letter 

kill  them  that  are  fed;  but  ye  feed  not  the  flock. 
The  diseased  have  ye  not  strengthened,  neither 
have  ye  healed  that  which  was  sick,  neither  have 
ye  bound  up  that  which  was  broken,  neither  have 
ye  brought  again  that  which  was  driven  away,  nei- 
ther have  ye  sought  that  which  was  lost ;  hut  with 
force  and  with  cruelty  have  ye  ruled  them.  And 
they  were  scattered,  because  there  is  no  shepherd." 

Whether  they  read  them  or  not,  the  people  read 
them ;  and  it  is  not  overwise  to  put  into  their  hands 
the  means  of  reading  them.  However,  they  do 
read  them  ;  and  they  read  in  the  two  Testaments, 
from  one  end  of  them  to  the  other,  that  which  has 
made  them  make  up  their  minds  unanimously,  with 
the  exceptions  before-mentioned,  that  this  establish- 
ment ought  to  be  repealed ;  that  tliis  immense  mass 
of  property  ought  no  longer  to  be  held  by  the  aris- 
tocracy, their  relations,  and  dependants  ;  but  that, 
as  it  is  the  property  of  the  whole  nation,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  whole  nation  it  ought  to  be  used. 

We  have  now  to  see  what  sort  of  a  distribution 
there  is  of  the  benefices.  There  are  twenty-six 
bishoprics  ;  twenty-six  deaneries  ;  fifth-three  arch- 
deaconries ;  three  hundred  and  ninety-four  pre- 
bends ;  there  are  four  hundred  and  forty-four  fel- 
lowships at  Oxford,  and  four  hundred  and  seven 
fellowships  at  Cambridge  :  there  are  the  fellow- 
ships at  Winchester  College;  the  benefices  in  the 
schools  at  Eton  and  Westminster  ;  the  master- 
ships of  innumerable  hospitals  and  schools  and  other 
charitable  endowments  ;  there  are  the  masterships 
of  almshouses  even,  in  great  numbers  ;  and  all  these, 
with  the  exception  of  the  least  valuable  part  of  them, 
are  in  the  hands  of  those  who  are  called  "  the  no- 
bility," and  in  those  of  their  relations  and  de- 
pendants. 


v.]  LEGACY    TO    PARSONS.  103 

But,  now,  with  regard  to  the  parochial  bene- 
fices ;  there  are  three  hundred  and  thirty-two  per- 
sons, who  have  amongst  them  the  revenues  oi four- 
teen hundred  and  ninety-six  parishes.  There  are 
five  hundred  more  who  have  amongst  them  fifteen 
hundred  and  twenty-four  parishes.  There  are  se- 
veral^persons,  who  are  either  peers,  or  the  relations 
of  peers,  who  have  each  six  benefices,  at  the  least, 
including  their  cathedral  preferment.  There  is  a 
G.  W.  Onslow,  who  is  the  vicar  of  Send,  perpet- 
ual curate  of  Ripley,  vicar  of  Shalford,  perpetual 
curate  of  Bramley,  rector  of  Wisley,  and  vicar  of 
PuRFORD.  There  is  a  Gilbert  Heathcote,  who 
is  archdeacon  of  Winchester,  a  fellow  of  Win- 
chester College,  treasurer  of  Wells  Cathedral, 
vicar  of  Andover,  vicar  of  Hursley,  perpetual 
curate  of  Foscot,  and  perpetual  curate  of  Otter- 
bourne.  There  is  Lord  Walsingham,  who  is  on 
the  pension-list  as  last  printed,  for  700Z.  a  year, 
who  is  Archdeacon  of  Surrey,  a  prebendary  of 
Winchester,  rector  of  Calbourne,  rector  of  Faw- 
ley,  perpetual  curate  of  Exbcry,  and  rector  of 
Merton.  The  Earl  of  Gcildford  is  rector  of  Old 
Alresford,  rector  of  Neav  Alresford,  perpetual 
curate  of  Medsted,  rector  of  St.  Mary,  South- 
ampton, including  the  great  parish  of  South  Stone- 
ham,  master  of  St.  Cross  Hospital,  with  the  revenue 
of  the  parish  of  St.  Faith,  along  with  it.  There  is 
a  Mr.  John  Fellowes,  rector  of  Brammerton, 
rector  of  Bratton  Cloveley,  vicar  of  Easton 
Newton,  rector  of  Mautby,  rector  of  Shottisham 
St.  Martin.  There  is  the  Honourable  E.  S.  Kep- 
PEL  is  a  rector  in  five  parishes,  and  a  vicar  in  two 
parishes.  There  is  the  Rev.  AVm.  Hett,  who  is  a 
prebendary,  and  a  vicar  choral  in  Lincoln,  a  rector 
in  three  parishes,  a  vicar  in  two  parishes,  and  a  per- 


104  cobbett's  [Letter 

petual  curate  in  two  parishes.  There  are  three 
Prettymaxs,  having,  amongst  them,  fifteen  bene- 
fices. There  is  the  Rev.  F.  D.  Perkins,  chaplain 
to  the  King,  rector  of  HaxM,  rector  of  Swayfield, 
vicar  of  Foleshill,  vicar  of  Hatherley-Down, 
vicar  of  Sow,  Adcar  of  Stoke.  I  will  not  tire  the 
reader,  but  I  must  mention  the  Rev.  J.  T.  Cas^erd, 
who  has  a  prebend  in  each  of  the  two  cathedrals  of 
Wells  and  Llandaff,  who  is  a  rector  in  one  pa- 
rish, a  vicar  in  four  parishes,  and  a  perpetual  cu- 
rate in  ^ii?o  parishes  !  Wellington's  brother  has 
one  of  the  great  prebends  of  Durham,  he  is  rector 
of  BisHOPWEARMouTH,  rcctor  of  Chelsea,  and  rec- 
tor of  Therfield.  These  are  merely  instances; 
so  that,  as  the  reader  will  see,  the  Parliament  is  go- 
ing to  be  prettily  amused  with  a  scheme  for  making 
provision  for  the  cure  of  souls.  As  to  the  autho- 
rity upon  which  I  state  these  things,  I  take  them 
from  a  book  printed  by  Rivington  of  St.  Paul's 
Church-yard,  entitled  the  "  Clerical  Guide,"  and 
published  in  1S29,  that  being  the  last  edition  ;  and 
it  is  well  known  that  Messrs.  Rivington  are  the 
hooksellers  of  the  established  Church,  and  that  they 
have  been  such  for  iifty  years. 

Now,  will  any  man  pretend  to  say,  that  this  esta- 
blishment ought  to  exist  as  it  is?  And  will  he  pre- 
tend to  say,  that  it  is  possible  to  reform  it  by  mere 
miserable  expedients,  such  as  are  now  talked  of? 
Why,  the  very  suggestion  of  a  desire  to  discover 
the  means  of  providing  for  the  cure  of  souls  :  the 
bare  fact,  that  the  king  has  appointed  a  commission 
of  bishops  and  others,  to  discover  the  means  of 
making  this  provision  ;  when  we  see  fourteen  hun- 
dred and  ninety-six  parishes  in  the  hands  of  three 
hundred  and  thirty-two  men ;  when  we  see  the  in- 
cumbents thus,  by  necessity,  incapable  even  to  go 


v.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  105 

to  look  at  their  parishes  ;  when  we  see  the  Bishop 
of  London,  who  is  one  of  the  commissioners  to  dis- 
cover these  means,  with  a  relation,  promoted  by 
himself,  to  be  a  prebendary  of  Chester,  and  the 
rector,  at  the  same  time,  of  two  great  parishes ; 
when  we  see  the  Archbishop  of  York  (who  is  an- 
other of  the  commissioners)  with  one  relation  being 
a  chancellor  of  the  church  of  York,  Archdeacon 
of  Cleveland,  rector  of  Kirby,  yicar  of  Stain- 
ton  St.  Winifred,  and  rector  of  Stokesley  ; 
when  we  see  this,  what  are  we  to  believe  with  re- 
gard to  the  real  intention  of  this  commission? 

But  there  is  another  branch  of  this  subject,  the 
SMALL  LIVINGS,  which,  if  our  indignation  were 
still  asleep,  woukl  rouse  it  into  most  turbulent  ac- 
tion. It  is  hardly  credible,  but  the  facts  are  these, 
that  in  England  and  Wales  there  are  sixteen  thou- 
sand and  some  odd  separate  parishes  and  town- 
ships, each  having  its  church  (where  the  church 
has  not  been  suffered  to  tumble  down,)  each  having 
its  churchwardens  and  overseers ;  and  each  ought 
to  have  its  resident  minister  ;  but  when  the  aristo- 
cracy had  grasped  the  property  of  the  Church  and 
the  poor,  as  we  have  before  seen,  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  the  Eighth,  they  passed  an  act  to  unite 
parishes  ;  so  that  two  parishes  became  one  as  to 
the  proprietorship  of  the  tithes  and  offerings.  This 
act  was  37  Henry  VIII.  chapter  I.  By  another 
act  which  was  passed  17  Charle?  the  Second  (chap- 
ter 3.)  the  power  of  uniting  parishes  was  extended. 
still  further  than  by  the  Act  of  Henry  the  Eighth, 
the  united  parishes  became  one  living  or  benefice  ; 
but  they  still  retained  by  law  their  separate  capa- 
city as  to  the  civil  parochial  government.  Thus 
the  sixteen  thousand  parishes  and  townships  be- 
came moulded  into  ten  thousand  four  hundred  and 


106  cobbett's  [Letter 

twenty-one  benefices ;  and  we  have  just  seen  how 
those  benefices  are  heaped  together  for  the  aristo- 
cracy, their  relations,  and  dependants.  The  uni- 
ting of  parishes  was  for  the  purpose  of  getting  the 
revenues  into  greater  heaps,  to  be  handy  for  the 
purposes  •  of  the  aristocracy,  who  have  now  the 
impudence  to  pretend  to  believe  that  the  country  is 
now  more  populous  than  it  formerly  was,  while 
they  have  united  the  parishes  in  this  manner  under 
^^retenpe  of  the  people  having  become  less  numer- 
ous ! 

Now  to  the  facts  with  regard  to  the  SMALL  LI- 
VINGS. The  parishes  were  united  to  make  them 
all  large  enough.  Yet  when  the  last  return  was 
made  by  the  bishops  to  the  King  in  council,  and 
that  return  was  laid  before  the  House  of  Commons, 
which  was  in  1818,  the  thing  stood  thus  :  There 
were  ten  thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty-one  liv 
ings  or  benefices.  Of  these  there  were  4,361  that 
were  called  ^^sniall  livings,^^  the  revenue  of  each 
being  under  150/.  a  year.  Some  of  these  were  un- 
der ten  pounds  a  year,  and  so  on  up  to  a  hundred 
and  fifty.  In  short  there  were  4,361  benefices  so 
small,  in  spite  of  the  unions,  that  the  average 
revenue  of  them  was  84/.  i  Monstrous  fact, 
v/hile  there  are  bishops  with  from  tuenty  to  forty 
thousand  pounds  a  year  revenue  ;  while  there  are 
deans,  prebendaries,  archdeacons,  rectjors,  vicars, 
fellows  of  colleges,  vvith  thousands  a  year  each  ; 
and  observe,  these  small  livings  are  exonerated 
from  the  land-tax  on  account  of  their  smallness ! 
How  then  (for  this  is  the  great  question  ;)  how  then 
(for  this  is  the  question  for  Sir  Robert  Peel  to  an- 
swer to  a  Parliament  of  sense  and  spirit ;)  how, 
then,  came  there  to  be  small  livings,  when  every 
thing  was  so  settled  at  the  Reformation  that  the  law 


v.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  lOt 

(as  I  have  above  cited  it)  insisted  imperatively  on 
the  residence,  on  the  constant  residence  of  every 
incumbent  on  the  spot  vi^hence  he  derived  his  re- 
venues ?  Could  the  law  contemplate  a  man's  con- 
stant residence  upon  a  spot,  and  the  performance 
of  clerical  duties  on  a  spot,  the  revenues  of  which 
yielded  him  less  than  ten  pounds  a  year  of  our  mo- 
ney ?  That  is  impossible.  The  livings  were  all 
sufficiently,  great  at  that  time,  and  now  let  us  see 
how  they  came  to  he  too  small.  Every  living  yields 
a  sufficiency  now,  and  more  than  a  sufficiency. 
The  people  pay  more  than  a  sufficiency.  Who 
then  is  it  that  takes  it  away  from  the  rector,  the  vi- 
car, or  perpetual  curate. 

To  be  sure,  the  aristocracy  took  away  a  large 
part  of  the  property  of  the  Church  and  the  poor : 
they  took  away  the  abbey-lands  ;  they  took  away 
a  large  portion  of  the  great  tithes  ;  but  the  law- 
took  care  to  leave  enough  for  the  due  maintenance 
of  the  incumbent.  The  parsons  are  now  crying 
out  against  the  lay-impropriators,  and,  if  the  peo- 
ple were  to  cry  out  against  them,  the  cry  would  be 
just  enough.  But  we  must  look  at  the  conduct  of 
the  clergy  themselves,  and  see  what  hand  they  have 
had  in  the  producing  of  these  small  livings. 

At  the  Reformation,  when  the  Parliament  did 
with  all  the  Church-property  just  what  it  pleased, 
it  basely  took  away  the  revenues  of  parishes  innu- 
merable ;  gave  them  to  laymen  in  some  cases  ; 
gave  them  to  colleges  in  other  cases  ;  gave  them  to 
Church-dignitaries  in  other  cases  ;  gave  them  to 
deans  and  chapters  in  other  cases.  But,  in  all 
these  cases  the  law  compelled  the  party,  to  whom 
the  revenues  were  thus  given,  to  give  a  certain  sum, 
annually,  to  the  parson  of  the  parish,  forever, 
which  was  called  an  endowment.     Now,  I  beg  you 


108  cobbett's  fLettei 

to  pay  attention  to  what  I  am  going  to  say.  At  that 
time  money  was  of  hventy  tirn.es  the  value  that  it 
is  now,  as  nearly  as  possible.  The  endowment 
was  a  certain  fixed  sum;  and  now  mark  the  mon- 
strousness  of  this  aristocracy  and  aristocratical 
part  of  the  clergy.  The  revenues  are  much  aboui 
twenty  times  as  great  as  they  were  at  the  time 
when  the  endowment  was  fixed.  These  great  cler- 
gymen have  received  the  aucrniented  revenues  to 
their  full  extent ;  and  they  have  paid  the  parsons, 
in  the  several  parishes,  the  bare  sum  of  the  endow- 
ment ;  that  is  to  say,  a  twentieth  part  of  what  they 
ought  to  have  paid  them. ;  and,  of  the  4,321  small 
livings,  the  poverty  of  the  far  greater  part  of  them 
arises  from  this  cause.  Two  or  three  instances 
will  be  better  than  a  long  essay,  and  a  great  deal 
better  than  any  declamation  on  the  subject  The 
parish  of  Aldershot,  in  Hampshire,  was  given  to 
the  Master  of  St.  Cross  Hospital  at  Winchester, 
reserving  an  endowment  of  fifteen  pounds  a  year 
for  the  parson  of  the  parish.  The  tithes  then 
amounted,  probably,  to  about  thirty  pounds  a  year 
in  that  money.  They  now  amount  to  upwards  of 
seven  hundred  pounds  a  year.  The  master  of  St. 
Cross  Hospital  receives  the  seven  hundred  pounds 
a  year,  and  he  honestly  gives  the  parson  of  the  pa- 
parish  the  fifteen  pounds  a  year.  And  WHO 
is  this  Master  of  St.  Cros-  Hospital  ?  It  is  the 
EARL  OF  GUILDFORD!  No.  wonder  that  we 
see  such  alarm  at  the  prospect  of  meddling  with 
Church  property  ;  but  is  this  good  treatment  of  the 
people  of  Aldershot,  in  whose  parish,  in  defiance 
of  the  law,  there  is  no  parsonage-house  ;  and  how 
should  there  be,  when  Lord  Guildford  leaves  but 
fifteen  pounds  a  year  in  the  parish  ?  This  is  an 
agricultural  and  nice  productive  little  parish,  with 


v.]  LEGACY    TO    PARSONS.  109 

four  hundred  and  ninety-four  inhabitants.  Take 
another  instance,  in  the  north  of  Hampshire. 
HuRSTBouRNE  Priors,  United  with  the  parish  of 
St.  Mary-bourne,  contains,  probably,  four  or  five 
thousand  acres  of  land.  The  tithes  of  all  sorts  can- 
not be  worth  so  little  as  six  or  seven  hundred  a 
year.  Lord  Portsmouth's  fine  house  and  park  are 
in  one  of  these  parishes.  There  are  two  churches,, 
and  1,205  inhabitants,  all  agricultural ;  some  of  the 
finest  meadows,  sheep-farms,  and  coppices,  in  the 
kingdom.  These  two  united  parishes  give  to  the 
incumbent  a  hundred  and  thirty  pounds  a  year,  in* 
eluding  an  addition  out  of  Queen  Anne's  Bounty; 
that  is  to  say,  out  of  the  taxes  (of  which  I  shall 
say  more  by-and-by.)  The  Bishop  of  Winches- 
ter is  the  patron  ;  and  I  do  not  ascertain  from  any 
document  that  I  have,  who  it  is  that  takes  away  the 
revenues  ;  but  I  know  this,  that  the  parsonage- 
house  is  in  "  a  damp  and  unhealthy  situation,"  the 
bishops  say,  and  that  no  parson  resides  in  it :  so 
that  here  are  two  parishes,  with  four  or  five  thou- 
sand acres  of  fine  land,  with  1,205  inhabitants,  pay- 
ing, perhaps,  a  thousand  a  year  in  tithes  and  offer 
ings,  with  two  Churches,  with  a  non-resident  par- 
son, paid  partly  out  of  the  taxes,  while  the  revenues 
of  the  parishes  are  taken  away  by  the  Bishop  of 
Winchester,  or  by  some  one  who  pays  the  piti- 
ful endowment  to  the  parson.  Take  another  in- 
stance. The  parish  of  Bentley,  in  the  east  of 
Hampshire,  and  a  few  miles  from  Farnham,  in  Sur- 
rey, has  a  population  of  400  persons.  A  consider- 
able part  of  the  paristi  is  fine  hop-garden  ;  the  tithes 
amount  to  from  800Z.  to  1,000Z.  a  year,  and  the  par- 
son receives  his  endowment  of  twenty-eight  pounds 
a  year.  He  would  receive  five  hundred  and  sixty 
pounds  a  year,  if  he  were  to  be  paid  according  to 
10 


110  cobbett's  [Letter 

the  spirit  and  intention  of  the  endowment.  If  his 
endowment  had  been  raised  as  the  tithes  went  on 
rising,  he  would  now  have  560Z.  a  year  at  the  least. 
In  despite  of  the  law,  there  is  no  parsonage-house 
in  the  parish ;  and  here  is  this  productive  and  po- 
pulous parish  left  without  parsonage-house  or  par- 
son, while  the  Archdeacon  of  Surrey  takes  away 
the  800Z.  or  1,000/.  a  year  !  And  who  is  the  Arch- 
deacon of  Surry  ?  It  is  Lord  Walsingham,  who 
is  a  pensioner  on  the  pension-list;  who  has  the 
tithes  of  several  other  parishes  in  this  same  sort  of 
Avay;  who  is  a  prebendary  of  Winchester;  and, 
as  we  have  seen  before,  a  chaplain  to  the  King, 
rector  of  Calbourne,  rector  of  Fawlay,  perpetu- 
al curate  of  Exbury,  and  rector  of  Merton,  or 
who  was  all  these,  observe,  in  the  year  1829,  that 
being  the  latest  period  to  which  my  authorities 
come  down. 

Here  is  enough  :  here  is  a  sample  of  the  whole ; 
and  hence  it  is,  that  there  are  4,361  small  livings 
out  of  the  10,420!  And  is  Sir  Robert  Peel  sit- 
ting in  a  Commission  :  do  not  his  vast  acquirements 
and  talents  cry  aloud  against  him,  while  he  sees 
these  things  in  existence,  and  while  he  is  sitting  in 
a  commission,  to  discover  the  means  of  providing 
for  the  cure  of  souls  in  the  parishes  of  Aldershot, 
Hurstbourne,  and  Bentlfy  ;  and  in  all  the  other 
thousands  of  Parishes  similarly  situated  ?  And  does 
he  believe  that  Ife  can  '^reform'''  this  Church  with 
the  assent  and  co-operation  of  the  dignitaries  of  this 
same  Church?  He  heard  Sir  James  Graham  tell 
us,  that  "  the  tithes  belonged  not  to  man;  that  they 
were  given  to  God.''  Are  they  given  to  God  at 
Aldershot  and  at  Bentley  ?  Or  would  it  be  the 
most  daring  blasphemy  to  affect  to  believe  that  they 
are  so  given? 


v.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  Ill 

Bad  as  all  this  is,  shameful  as  it  is,  the  blackest 
story  still  remains  to  come ;  namely,  the  invention 
and  application  of  what  is  called  QUEEN  ANNE'S 
BOUNTY,  of  which  the  people  of  England  have 
heard  talk  long  enough  ;  and  it  is  now  time  that 
they  understand  something  about  it.  They  will 
find  that  it  was  no  Bounty  of  Queen  Anne,  or  of 
any  body  else  ;  but  a  parcel  oi public  revenue  and 
of  taxes,  taken  from  the  people  by  the  aristocracy 
and  given  to  themselves.  To  prove  this  we  must 
go  a  little  back,  and  begin  at  the  bottom  of  the  cu- 
rious thing  which  we  have  now  before  us. 

Until  Henry  the  Eighth  quarrelled  with  the 
Pope,  and  cast  him  off,  the  Church  paid  its  tenths 
and  FIRST-FRUITS  to  the  Pope  ;  or,  at  least,  he  had 
the  disposal  of  them  for  what  was  termed  the  good  of 
the  Church.  And,  now,  let  us  see  what  these  tenths 
and  first-fruits  are.  They  consist  of  a  tenth  part 
of  the  annual  revenues  of  every  benefice,  from  the 
bishoprics  down  to  the  smallest  parochial  livings. 
These  are  called  the  tenths.  The  first-fruits 
consist  of  the  first  year's  clear  revenue  of  every  be- 
nefice, from  the  bishop  downwards.  When  Henry 
the  Eighth  and  his  Parliament  took  these  from  the 
Pope,  the  King,  having  made  himself  head  of  the 
Church,  took  them  to  himself;  had  the  several  be- 
nefices valued ;  had  books  made,  called  THE 
KING'S  BOOKS,  in  which  the  value  was  recorded; 
and  he  made  the  clergy  pay  their  tenths  and  first- 
fruits  accordingly,  all  which  the  Parliament  pro- 
vided for  by  an  Act,  26th  Henry  the  Eighth,  chap- 
ter 3.  When  Mary  came  to  the  throne,  she  gave 
back  the  tenths  and  first-fruits  to  the  Pope.  Eliza- 
beth {1st  year,  chapter  4)  took  them  back  to  her- 
self; but  discharged  or  acquitted  such  benefices  as 
had  not  a  revenue  of  more  than  ten  pounds  a  year. 


112  cobbett's  [Lettci 

Money  had  become  somewhat  diminished  in  value 
at  this  time,  and  therefore  it  appeared  just  to  make 
this  change.  In  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne  money 
had  greatly  lowered  in  value  ;  and  she  (5  Anne, 
chapter  24)  discharged  from  the  payment  of  the 
tenths  and  first-fruits  all  benefices  the  then  revenues 
of  which  were  under  ffty  pounds  a  year.  We  shall, 
by-and-by,  see  the  monstrous  profligacy  of  this 
work  of  discharging.  But  we  must  now  return  to 
Queen  Anne's  Bounty.  She,  like  her  Protestant 
predecessors,  received  the  tenths  and  first-fruits, 
which  were  not  her  private  property ;  but  made  a 
pari  of  her  revenue.  M'herewith  to  maintain  her 
state,  her  household,  her  ofiicers  of  state,  her  am- 
bassadors, and  the  like  ;  but  the  aristocracy  fell 
upon  a  scheme  of  taking  these  tenths  and  first-fruits 
to  themselves.  By  the  Act  2  and  3  of  Anne, 
chapter  11,  they  took  them  away  from. her,  under 
pretence  of  wanting  money  to  augment  the  smaller 
livings;  and  they  established  a  Board  of  first-fruits, 
consisting  of  trustees  appointed  by  the  crown,  who 
Avere  to  receive  the  tenths  and  first-fruits,  and  apply 
them  to  the  purposes  described  by  the  act;  which 
was,  the  augmentation  of  small  livings ;  and  this 
they  called  the  Bounty  of  Queen  Anne,  though 
taxes  were  imposed  on  the  people  to  be  given  to 
her  in  lieu  of  her  tenths  and  first-fruits  !  I  have 
spoken  before  of  the  act  of  her  reign  which  dis- 
charged the  small  livings  from  paying  the  tenths 
and  first-fruits,  and  shall  have  to  speak  of  it  again 
presently. 

Thus  you  see  that  it  was  a  portion  of  the  revenues 
of  the  state,  which  was  thus  taken  from  the  state 
and  given  to  the  clergy,  and  as  we  shall  presently 
see  to  the  aristocracy.  But  we  see  only  a  part  of 
this   thing  yet.      P^xemptions   from   land-tax  and 


V.j  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  113 

stamp-taxes  exist  with  regard  to  these  small  livings; 
but  besides  these,  numerous  grants  have  been  made 
out  of  the  taxes ;  oni  oi  the  consolidated  fund  ;  out 
of  the  fruit  of  the  industry  of  every  man  in  the  king- 
dom, Churchman,  Dissenter,  or  Catholic.  "  At  the 
particulars  and  at  the  gross  amount  of  all  these 
grants,  during  the  hundred  and  twenty  years  that 
the  Queen  Anne's  Bounty-Corporation,  or  Board 
of  Commissioners,  has  existed,  I  have  no  means  of 
coming:  but  I  know  that  during  the  regency  and 
reign  of  our  late  most  big  and  "  beneficent "  sove- 
reign one  inillion  five  hundred  thousand  pounds 
were  voted  out  of  the  consolidated  fund,  to  go  to 
augment  the  Qveen  Anne's  Bounty,  the  particulars 
of  which,  year  by  year,  will  be  seen  in  my  history 
of  that  "  beneficent  "  reign  and  regency.  So  that 
you  will  please  to  observe,  it  is  all  a  mass  of  taxes 
altogether,  taken  from  the  Dissenters  and  Catholics, 
Scotch  church  and  all,  as  well  as  churchmen,  to  be 
given  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  clergy  of  the  Church 
of  England,  as  it  is  described  in  the  distribution  of 
parliamentary  grants.  Oh  I  how  this  nation  has 
been  duped  !  Oh  !  what  a  score  this  church  has  now 
to  settle  with  it ! 

Well,  but  it  was  to  "augment  the  small  livings;" 
was  it  not  ?  It  was  to  make  the  lot  of  the  poor  par- 
sons a  little  better,  was  it  not  ?  Stop  a  bit,  I  will 
tell  you  all  about  that,  and  will,  in  the  next  para- 
graph but  two,  make  you  grind  your  teeth  at  the 
bare  sight  of  any  thing  black  ;  but  before  I  do  that 
we  must  have  a  word  about  these  "  KING'S 
BOORS,"  according  to  whicli  the  Act  of  Henry 
the  Eighth  above-mentioned  (26th  of  his  reign, 
chapter  3)  the  tenths  and  first-fruits  were  to  be  paid. 
That  act  provided,  that  the  value  of  the  benefices 
should  be  inserted  in  these  books  ;  and  that  the 
10* 


114  cobeett's  [Letter 

tenths  and  first-fruits  should  be  paid  accordingly. 
Now,  money  was  twenty  times  the  value  then  that 
it  is  at  this  time  ;  but  it  has  been  exceeding-ly  con- 
venient to  the  aristocracy  and  their  church  that  the 
nominal  sum  should  still  remain  the  same.  So 
that  a  living  that  now  yields  five  hundred  a  year 
was  then  rated,  probably,  at  five-and-twenty  pounds 
a  year  ;  and  according  to  that  rate  the  parson  now 
pays,  if  he  pays  at  all ;  so  that  he  gives  to  the  state 
two  pounds  ten  shillings  a  year  instead  of  giving 
fifty  pounds  a  year  !  I  have  before  me  an  instance 
of  this  within  my  own  knowledge.  Botley,  the 
parish  in  which  I  lived,  in  Hampshire,  is  rated  in 
the  King's  books  as  yielding  a  revenue  to  the  par- 
son of  5/.  10s.  22d.  a  year.  I  know  that  the  living 
was  worth  to  the  parson  between /re  and  six  hun- 
dred pounds  a  year ;  so  that  the  parson,  instead  of 
paying  fifty  pounds  a  year  or  upwards,  as  his 
tenths  ;  instead  of  paying  upwards  of  five  hundred 
pounds  as  his  first  fruits,  paid  as  first  fruits  5Z.  10s. 
2id.,  and  pays  as  tenths  II.  Is.  0.]d.  !  Now  the 
present  man  has  had  the  living  thirty-two  years, 
and  he  has  kept  from  the  State,  according  to  the 
law  of  Henry  the  Eighth  (without  which  these 
tenths  and  first-fruits  have  no  existence  in  law,)  the 
sum  of  two  thousand  and  sixty-one  pounds,  not 
reckoning  interest.  Yet,  it  is  not  the  parson  who 
gains  here  :  it  is  the  ARISTOCRACY  again  !  The 
ADvowsoN  belongs  to  the  Duke  of  Portland  ; 
and  it  is  worth  so  much  more  now  than  it  would  be 
if  it  rendered  first-fruits  and  tenths  according  to 
the  Act  of  Henry  VHI. !  Good  again  :  thus,  it  is 
all  for  this  aristocracy. 

But  great  numbers  of  the  livings  are  discharged, 
on  account  of  their  smallness.  Discharged,  first  by 
the  1st  of  Elizabeth,   chapter  4  ;  and,  second,  by 


v.]  LEGACY    TO    PARSONS.  115 

the  5th  of  Anne,  chapter  24.  Now  do  look  at  the 
monstrousness  of  this.  Elizabeth  discliarged 
them,  if  the  revenue  were  not  above  ten  pounds  a 
year;  and  Anne  discharged  them  if  they  were 
under  fifty  pounds  a  year.  That  is  to  say,  of  their 
real  value  at  those  two  times.  But,  in  laying  this 
real  value  before  the  people,  the  value  of  the  endow- 
ments only  was  given  ;  only  the  real  value  of  that 
which  was  given  to  the  poor  parson  ;  and  thus 
stands  the  thing  now  to  this  day ;  and  the  parish  of 
Bentley,  before  mentioned,  the  real  revenue  of 
which  is  from  eight  hundred  to  a  thousand  pounds 
a  year,  and  the  parish  of  Alderehot  before  men- 
tioned, the  revenue  of  which  is  between  seven  and 
eight  hundred  pounds  a  year,  stand  discharged 
from  the  payment  of  first-fruits  and  tenths,  on  the 
ground  that  each  is  worth  less  than  fifty  pounds  a 
year,  while  their  great  revenues  are  received  by 
Lords  Walsingham  and  Guildford,  who  here 
rank  amongst  the  '^  poor  clergy  of  the  Established 
Church r 

This  would  be  a  most  scandalous  piece  of  injus- 
tice to  the  nation  ;  a  most  shameful  evasion  of  the 
intention  of  the  law,  even  if  the  act  of  Henry  the 
Eighth  had  made  no  provision  for  the  change  in  the 
value  of  money.  But  the  Act  does  make  such  pro- 
vision. It  provides,  that  the  Chancellor  of  England, 
for  the  time  being,  shall  issue  commissions,  in  order 
to  have  livings  taxed,  and  the  rates  levied  to  the 
use  of  the  king,  his  heirs  and  successors  for  ever ; 
so  that  all  the  benefices  might  pay,  at  all  times, 
"  according  to  their  true  and  just,  whole  and  entire, 
yearly  values  /"  If  the  present  Lord  Chancellor 
were  to  issue,  as  he  is  fully  authorized  to  do,  with- 
out any  new  law,  a  commission  of  this  sort,  instead 
of  carrying  on  discussions  with  Bishop  Blomfield, 


116  cobbett's  [Letter 

about  '♦  Church  Reform,''^  we  might  expect  some- 
thing like  real  reform  in  this  Church.  This  is  the 
law  as  completely  now  as  it  was  in  the  26th  year 
of  Henry  the  Eighth ;  and  Bishop  Blomfield 
(clever  fellow)  is  only  thinking  how  he  can  make 
*'  provision  for  the  cure  of  souls, ''^  while  his  relation 
is  a  prebendary  of  Chester,  and  is  the  rector  of 
two  thundering  great  parishes  in  Cheshire ;  and 
while  there  are  332  men  who  have  1496  parishes 
amongst  them ! 

But,  the  reader  will  say,  you  told  us  just  now, 
that  you  would  tell  us  all  about  the  story  of  the 
Queen  Anne's  Bounty  being  applied  to  the  mending 
of  the  lot  of  the  poorer  parsons;  and  so  I  will  tell 
you,  and  now  directly.  I  have  told  you,  that  the 
living  of  Aldershot  yields  a  revenue  of  about 
seven  hundred  pounds  a  year.  Well,  now,  that  liv-  • 
ing  has  been  augmented  by  Queen  Anne's  Bounty, 
by  the  amount  of  fifty  pounds  a  year  ;  that  is  to 
say,  that  the  people  pay,  in  taxes,  fifty  pounds  a 
year  to  the  poor  parson,  while  Lord  Guildford 
takes  away  the  whole  of  the  revenue,  all  but  fifteen 
pounds  !  I  have  told  you  that  the  living  of  Bent- 
ley  yields  from  eight  hundred  to  a  thousand  pounds 
a  year;  and  that  the  parson  receives  twenty-eight 
pounds  a  year  out  of  that  revenue,  while  Lord 
Walsingiiam  takes  the  rest.  That  living  also  has 
been  augmented  by  Queen  Anne's  Bounty ;  that  is 
to  say,  out  of  the  taxes,  paid  by  Dissenters  and 
Catholics,  as  well  as  by  Churchmen.  Every  labour- 
ing man  in  the  kingdom  is  taxed  to  help  to  pay  this 
poor  parson,  while  Lord  Walsingham  takes  away 
the  revenues  of  the  parish,  and  to  Lord  Walsing- 
ham we  give  the  taxes,  to  be  sure,  and  not  to  the 
poor  parson,  whose  living  ought  to  be  worth  five 
hundred  and  sixty  pounds  a  year.     To  crown  the 


v.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  117 

whole,  great  numbers  of  the  rich  pluralists  are  the 
holders  of  small  livings  that  have  been  augmented 
by  Queen  AxXne's  Bounty  ;  that  is  to  say,  they, 
under  the  garb  of  ^^ poor  clergy,''''  put  into  their 
pockets,  taxes,  paid  by  a  people  whom  they  now 
propose  to  make  live  upon  a  ^'■coarser  sort  offoodP^ 

Now,  then,  is  it  possible  to  reform  this  Church  ? 
the  very  first  step  would  be  to  make  it  pay  tenths 
and  first-fruits,  according  to  the  true  meaning  of  the 
law ;  and  to  make  every  living  incumbent  pay  up 
the  arrears,  according  to  that  law  :  the  next  step,  to 
compel  the  Church  to  pay  back  to  the  people  the 
amount  of  all  the  sums  that  have  been  given  to 
*'  the  poor  clergy  out  of  the  taxes :"  the  next  step, 
to  compel  those  who  pay  the  miserable  endowments 
out  of  the  revenues  of  the  parishes,  to  pay  those  en- 
dowments according  to  the  altered  value  of  money: 
the  next  step,  to  repeal  the  monstrous  Act  of  43rd  of 
George  III.  and  to  compel  residence  unremitted,  or 
forfeiture  to  the  amount  prescribed  by  the  Act  of 
Henry  VIII.,  and  an  addition  in  point  of  sum,  ac- 
cording to  the  altered  value  of  money.  This  would 
be  real  reform ;  with  any  thing  short  of  this  no 
man  of  sense  and  of  spirit  would  be  satisfied  :  this 
would  abolish  the  monstrous  pluralities  ;  would 
olace  a  resident  minister  constantly  in  every  parish  ; 
would  make  the  clergy  Christian-like  teachers ; 
would  put  an  end  to  their  scandalous  luxury,  and  to 
their  unbearable  insolence. 

The  question  is,  can  Sir  Robert  Peel  effect  a 
reform  like  this  ?  If  he  cannot,  he  will  only  labour 
in  vain.  At  every  step,  he  will  be  met  with  the 
statements  which  I  have  made  in  this  book.  He 
will  perceive  that  there  can  be  no*  contradiction 
given  to  me  with  truth.  He  will  look  at  this  m.on- 
strous  mass  of  abuses,  and  of  injustice  towards  the 


lig  cobbett's  [Letter 

nation,  that  he  will  find  stated  in  this  little  volume. 
He  will  perceive  the  utter  impossibility  of  remov- 
ing this  mass  of  abuse  and  injustice,  by  any  means, 
other  than  those  that  will  put  an  end  to  this  hierar- 
chy for  ever :  he  will  see  that  that  must  be  a  great 
revolution  in  England  ;  but  after  he  has  turned  it 
round  and  round,  and  looked  at  it  on  every  side,  he 
will  see  that  that  revolution  is  absolutely  necessary 
to  prevent  a  greater  revolution.  It  will  be,  and  I 
scorn  to  disguise  my  belief  in  the  fact,  a  pulling 
down  of  the  whole  of  the  aristocracy  ;  a  lowering 
of  them  by  many  a  degree  ;  but  he  will  have  too 
much  virtue,  I  should  hope,  not  to  prefer  that  to  a 
destruction,  a  total  destruction,  of  THAT,  which  it 
is  his  bounden  duty  to  uphold  and  defend  at  all  ha- 
zards, whether  of  reputation  or  of  life. 


LETTER  VI. 

what  is  that  compound  thing  called  church 
and  state  ?  and  what  would  be  the  ef- 
fects of  a  separation  of  them,  one  from 
the  other  ? 

Parsons, 

I  shall,  in  the  latter  part  of  this  letter,  state  what 
would  be  the  effects  of  a  separation  of  Church  from 
State.  As  to  the  former  question,  we  now  know 
pretty  well  what  a  Church  is,  and  what  this  Church 
in  particular  is  ;  and  now  let  us  see  what  a  State  is. 
A  State  is  not  a  king  and  a  ministry  ;  a  State  is  a 
Coramonwealth  ;  a  people  formed  into  a  commu- 
nity, and  freely  forming  a  government,  by  which 
they  agree  to  be  ruled.  That  is  a  State,  in  the 
large  sense  of  the  word.     In  a  somewhat  narrower 


VI.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  11^ 

sense,  it  means  the  government  of  such  a  commu- 
nity,  or  commonwealth  ;  and  every  thing  which  be- 
long^ to,  or  is  upheld  by,  the  whole  government, 
legislative  as  well  as  executive,  may  be  said  to  be 
connected  with  the  State,  In  this  manner  the  Church 
is  connected  with  the  State,  and  it  calls  itself,  and 
the*king,  at  his  coronation,  swears  that  it  is  a  church 
established  by  law  ;  that  is  to  say,  by  the  law  of 
man.  The  head  of  the  government  is  also  the  head 
of  the  Church.  The  Church,  as  established  by 
Christ  and  his  Apostles,  had  no  such  head ;  it 
knew  nothing  of  any  government  protection  ;  it  ap- 
pealed not  to  the  laws  of  man.  It  asked  for  no 
laws,  and  it  had  no  laws,  to  compel  people  to  give 
their  money  or  their  goods  for  its  support.  It  in- 
culcated the  duty  of  Christians  giving  their  money 
or  their  goods,  if  they  could  afford  it,  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  the  altar,  and  to  feed  and  clothe  those 
who  served  at  the  altar;  but  it  resorted  to  no  force; 
to  no  penalties,  much  less  to  imprisonment  and 
death,  to  compel  men  to  conform,  and  to  give  their 
money  or  their  goods.  The  Church,  as  established 
by  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  was,  in  this  respect, 
what  the  Churches  of  the  Dissenters  are  now.  It 
depended,  for  its  support,  on  the  voluntary  offer- 
ings, oblations,  and  contributions  of  the  people. 
Therefore  it  is,  that  the  Dissenters  represent  the 
established  Church  as  unchristian  in  its  nature ; 
and,  feeling  that  it  loads  them  with  heavy  burdens, 
they  justly  and  reasonably  call  for  a  separation  of 
the  Church  from  the  State. 

Now,  let  us  hear  the  objections  to  the  granting  of 
this  prayer  of  the  Dissenters  ;  for  it  would  be  hard, 
indeed,  if  those  who  possess  from  six  to  eight  mil- 
lions a  year  of  property  belonging  to  the  common- 
wealth ;  hard,  indeed,  if  they  could  find  out  no  ob- 


120  cobbett's  [Letter 

jection  to  the  taking  of  that  immense  sum  away 
from  them. 

Their  first  objection  is,  that  such  a  change  woyld 
be  contrary  to  all  the  settled  notions  of  mankind, 
according  to  which,  it  is  the  bounden  duty  of  every 
government  to  provide  for  the  religious  instruction 
of  the  people.  I  have  before  answered  this  objec- 
tion completely  ;  but  if  it  be  the  duty  of  a  govern- 
ment to  provide  for  the  religious  instruction  of  the 
people,  does  it  provide  for  it  by  the  means  of  this 
Church,  when  we  find,  that,  out  of  16,000  parishes 
and  townships  there  were  resident  only  5,397  in- 
cumbents ;  and  when  we  find  1,496  parishes  in  the 
hands  of  332  incumbents  ;  when  we  further  find, 
that  there  are  in  England  and  Wales  254  parishes 
without  any  churches;  1,729  parishes,  which  have 
no  parsonage-houses;  and  1,422  parishes,  which, 
in  spite  of  the  law,  the  parsons  themselves  repre- 
sent as  unlit  to  live  in ;  and,  be  it  observed,  too, 
that  this  refers  "to  the  benefices,  and  not  to  the  pa- 
rishes ;  for  then  there  are  about  five  thousand  more 
parishes  and  townships  that  have  no  parsonage- 
house,  notwithstanding  the  provisions  of  the  law,  to 
compel  the  upholding  of  the  parsonages.  Does 
the  Church,  then,  exhibit  to  us  the  means  of  reli- 
gious instruction  for  the  people  ?  In  a  very  large 
part  of  England  and  Wales  the  teaching  of  religion 
would  be  utterly  unknown  to  the  people,  were  it 
not  for  the  Dissenters  of  various  descriptions. 
Many  reports  from  the  missionaries  of  the  Dissent- 
ers have  stated  that  they  have  found  whole  parishes 
totally  destitute  of  all  knowledge  of  religion.  And 
why  are  we  not  to  believe  the  fact,  when  we  see 
1,496  parishes  with  their  revenues  in  the  hands  ol 
332  incumbents  ? 

But  it  is  said,  that  these  swallowers;  these  noble. 


VI.]  LEGACY    TO    PARSONS.  121 

honourable,  and  gentle,  incumbents  employ  CU- 
RATES in  their  parishes  ;  that  is  to  say,  that  they 
hire  men  to  do  their  duty.  In  the  first  place,  they 
do  not  hire  one  man  for  every  parish ;  and  nothing 
is  more  common,  in  some  parts  of  England,  than 
one  curate  serving  three  parishes  ;  and  in  some 
cases  four  ;  nothing  so  common  as  two.  But,  how 
stands  this  matter?  The  curate  is  paid  so  poorly, 
that  it  is  utterly  impossible  that  he  should  perform 
the  duties  of  a  teacher  of  religion  in  the  manner 
that  he  ought  to  do.  He  is  a  poor  man,  with  hardly 
the  means  of  living  better  than  a  mechanic,  or  a 
labourer.  His  poverty  is  known,  and  seen  ;  and, 
as  he  sets  up  for  a  gentleman,  he  excites  no  com- 
passion in  his  beholders;  but  is  sure  to  excite  their 
contempt ;  and,  this  being  the  case,  is  it  likely,  that 
he  should  do  much  in  the  way  of  giving  religions 
instruction  ?  Was  it  ever  yet  known  in  the  world, 
that  men  sucked  in  instruction  from  those  whom 
they  despised?  However,  it  is  certain  that  the  in- 
cumbent gives  the  curate  but  a  small  part  of  the 
revenue  of  the  parish,  and  that  he  puts  the  rest  into 
his  own  pocket ;  and  here  is  the  unpleasant  dilem- 
ma for  the  parsons.  Doubtless,  the  Earl  of  Guild- 
ford has  curates  at  Old  Abesford,  New  Abes- 
ford,  Medsted,  St.  Mary  Southampton,  and 
South  Stonekam,  and  also  in  the  parish  of  St. 
Faith  :  doubtless  he  has  curates  ;  for  he  hardly 
does  the  duty  himself,  while  he  is  living  at  Wal- 
dershade  in  Kent,  or  sitting  in  the  House  of  Lords. 
Doubtless  he  may  have  three  curates,  one  at  the 
Abesfords  and  Medsted,  one  at  St.  Faith  and 
St.  Cross,  and  one  at  Southampton  ;  and,  doubt- 
less, he  gives  them  stipends  not  under  eighty  pounds 
a  year  (in  cases  like  these,)  according  to  the  Act 
53rd  George  III.  chapter  149,  which  Act  was  made 
11 


123  cobbett's  [Lettei 

to  compeu  the  rich  incumbents  to  pay  their  hirelings 
at  a  certain  rate  !  But,  here  is  the  dilemma :  here 
is  the  nasty  dilemma  for  Sir  Robert  Peel  to 
touch  in  his  Church-reform  :  either  these  miserable 
stipends  are  sufficient ;  are  adequate  to  the  payment 
of  men  to  have  the  care  of  souls;  or,  they  are  not 
sufficient  for  that  purpose.  If  they  be  not  sufficient, 
then  here  is  the  State  neglecting  to  provide  for  the 
religious  instruction  of  the  people;  and  if  they  be 
sufficient,  why  give  Lord  Guildford  any  thing 
more  for  these  parishes,  than  the  amount  of  the  sti- 
pend paid  to  the  hireling  ?  Upon  one  or  other  of 
the  horns  of  this  dilemma  Sir  Robert  Peel  must 
be  hooked  ;  and  let  him  get  off  as  he  can ;  that  is 
to  say,  he  must  be  hooked,  unless  he  be  prepared, 
as  I  hope  he  may,  to  enact  a  separation  of  the 
Church  from  the  State. 

Another  objection  is,  that,  if  the  voluntary  prin- 
ciple were  adopted,  religion  would  suffer  by  the  de- 
pendent state  of  the  Ministers,  who  would  then  be 
the  mere  hirelings  of  their  flocks.  What  are  these 
miserable  curates  then  ?  They  do  not  receive,  on 
an  average,  one  half  of  what  the  average  of  Dis- 
senting Ministers  receive.  And,  as  to  dependence; 
the  Dissenting  Ministers  are  dependent  on  the  ca- 
price of  nobody  ;  not  even  a  part  of  their  congre- 
gation ;  while  the  miserable  curate  is  in  the  most 
abject  state  of  dependence  ;  and  that,  too,  on  the 
will,  on  the  caprice,  it  may  be,  of  one  single  man; 
for  the  incumbent  has  the  power  of  discharging  the 
curate  whenever  he  pleases;  in  spite  of  all  the  pre- 
tences of  the  Act  53rd  Geo.  III.  chap.  149,  to  give 
protection  to  these  poor  creatures.  Besides  which, 
the  curate,  if  he  do  or  say  anything  to  displease  the 
bishop  of  the  diocese,  he  can  prevent  him  from  b3- 
ing  employed  in  any  other  diocese ;  for  no  other 


VI.]  LEGACY  TO   PARSONS.  123 

bishop  will  suffer  him  to  be  employed,  unless  he 
bring  testimonials  from  his  last  bishop,  and  these 
testimonials  may  be  refused,  without  cause  assign- 
ed :  so  that  the  poor  creature's  mouth  is  actually 
locked  up  ;  he  is  doomed  to  certain  ruin  or  to  ab- 
solute submission  to  the  will  of  Jiis  master-parson. 
There  is  no  footman  so  completely  dependent  as 
one  of  these  miserable  men  ;  and  these  are  the  men 
which  this  Established  Church  ^ives  us  for  our  re- 
ligious instructors :  these  are  the  men,  with  whom 
the  Slate  furnishes  us  to  keep  us  all  in  the  fold,  and 
to  protect  us  against  adopting  strange  and  errone- 
ous doctrines  ! 

Another  objection  is,  that  if  there  were  not  men 
set  apart  by  the  State  to  teach  religion,  and  sup- 
plied with  incomes  by  the  State  for  that  purpose, 
the  teaching  of  religion  would  fall  into  low  hands ; 
that  the  ministers  of  Christ  would  become  a  mere 
mundane  race  of  men,  hankering  after  "  the  world 
and  the  jiesh ;""  and.  Sir  William  Scott,  in  his 
impudent  speech,  when  he,  as  a  member  for  the 
University  of  Oxford,  moved  the  passing  of  the 
before-mentioned  Act  of  George  the  Third,  43rd 
year  of  his  reign,  chapter  84,  which,  as  we  observed 
before.  Jet  the  parsons  loose,  insisted  that  it  was 
proper  that  the  clergy  should  go  to  places  of  fa- 
shionable resort,  and  of  pleasure,  with  their  fami- 
lies, seeing  that,  "  hy  the  Reformation,  they  had 
been  invited  to  marry.'"  I  must  stop  here  to  ob- 
serve, that  Sir  James  Graham,  in  his  speech  on 
Lord  John  Russell's  motion  regarding  the  Irish 
TITHES,  took  occasion  to  utter  an  invective  against 
the  celibacy  of  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy,  and  ob- 
served, that  "  our  Church  denominated  unmarried 
priests  unholy  priests."  Now,  then,  let  us  see  how 
the  "  Reformation"  invited  them  to  marry  :  now 


124  cobbett's  [Letter 

let  us  see  whether  our  Church  holds  unmarried 
priests  to  be  unholy  priests.  After  the  Reforma- 
tion had  been  made  ;  after  the  new  Church  and  the 
Prayer-Book  had  been  enacted,  an  Act,  (2nd  and 
3rd  Edward  the  Sixth,  chapter  21)  was  passed  to 
^Hake  away  all  'positive  laws  made  against  the 
marriage  of  priests ;'''  and  upon  what  grounds  was 
this  act  passed,  and  what  did  it  say  in  its  preamble  ? 
Why,  this  is  what  i*;  said.  "  Although  it  were  not 
only  better  for  the  estimation  of  priests,  and  other 
ministers  in  the  Church  of  God,  to  live  chaste,  sole, 
and  separate  from  the  company  of  women,  and  the 
bond  of  marriage,  but  also,  thereby  they  might  the 
better  intend  to  the  administration  of  the  Gospel, 
and  be  less  intricated  and  troubled  with  the  charge 
of  Household,  being  free  and  unburthened  with 
care  and  cost  of  finding  wife  and  children,  and  that 
it  were  most  to  be  wished,  that  they  would  willing- 
ly, and  of  themselves,  endeavour  themselves  to  a 
perpetual  chastity  and  abstinence  from  the  use  of 
women  :  yet,  forasmuch  as  the  contrary  hath  rath- 
er been  seen,  (fee.  &:c.  ;"  and  then  the  Act  proceeds 
to  exempt  them  from  pains  and  penalties^  if  they 
do  marry  !  And  this  is  what  Sir  William  Scott 
called  "  inviting  them  to  marry  ;"  and  this  is  what 
the  learned  doctor  in  divinity,  Sir  James  Graham, 
calls  the  principle  of  our  Church,  that  "  an  unmar- 
ried priest  is  an  unholy  priest." 

I  have  before  noticed  the  arrogance  and  inso- 
lence of  the  clergy,  at  the  time  of  the  passing  of 
the  Act  of  43rd  George  III.  c.  84,  which  put  an  end 
to  the  informations  against  them,  and  which  let  them 
loose  to  ramble  about  as  they  liked,  and  to  farm 
and  to  trafhc.  I  have  before  observed  on  the  ad- 
vantage which  they  took  of  the  violences  com- 
mitted in  France.     And  Scott  (now  Stowell,) 


VI.J  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  125 

when  he  moved  for  this  Bill,  uttered  these  memor- 
able words  :  "  Whilst  we  have  seen  in  other  coun- 
tries, CHRISTIANITY  SUFFERING  in  the  per- 
sons of  the  oppressed  clergy,  it  imposes  a  peculiar^ 
obligation  upon  us,  to  treat  our  own  with  kindness 
and  respect,  and  to  beware  of  degrading  religion 
by  an  apparent  degradation  of  its  ministers  !" 
AVhat  an  impudent  speech  I  They  had  deserted 
their  flocks  :  they  had  abandoned  their  parishes  ; 
they  had  broken  their  solemn  vows,  and  their  so- 
lemn oaths  ;  they  had  abandoned  the  people  com- 
mitted to  their  charge,  after  having  solemnly  de- 
clared that  they  believed  themselves  to  have  been 
inwardly  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  take  upon 
them  the  office,  "  to  serve  God  for  the  promoting 
of  his  glory,  and  the  edifying  of  his  people;"  they 
set  the  law  of  the  land  at  defiance,  in  the  most  da- 
ring manner  ;  and  it  was  called  "  degrading  reli- 
gion'^ to  attempt  to  bring  them  back  to  their  duty  ! 
But,  such  was  the  hoodwinked,  frightened,  and 
cowed-down  state  of  the  nation  at  that  time ;  that 
this  impudent  speech  passed  without  censure  from 
any  body  !  Excellent,  too,  that  Christianity  had 
suffered  in  France,  in  the  persons  of  the  clergy  of 
that  country;  excellent  and  most  impudent,  to  tell 
us  that  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  being  put 
down  caused  Christianity  to  sv.fer,  though  the  Uni- 
versity, of  which  this  Scott  was  the  representa- 
tive, and  for  whom  he  was  talking,  had,  for  three 
hundred  years,  taught  us  that  that  religion  was 
idolatrous  and  damnable ! 

To  return  to  the  objection,  that  the  teaching  of 
religion  would  fall  into  low  hands  ;  which  objec- 
tion we  will  take  in  the  words  of  Scott  :  that,  if 
there  was  an  equalization  of  the  Church-incomes, 
"  we  should  run  the  risk  of  having  a  body  of  clergy 
11* 


126  cobbett's  [Letter 

resemhling  only  the  lower  orders  of  society  in  their 
conversation,  in  their  manners,  and  their  habits  ; 
and  it  were  well  if  they  were  not  affected  by  a  po- 
pular fondness  for  some  of  the  species  of  a  gross 
and  factious  religion."  But,  how  could  they  well 
be  lower  than  these  miserable  curates,  if  small  in- 
comes would  make  them  low  ?  And  these  misera- 
ble curates  we  have  in  the  16,000  parishes,  where 
there  are  any  ministers  at  all,  excepting  5,379  pa 
rishes.  How,  then  could  the  voluntary  principle 
make  them  lo\/er  ?  And,  appealing  to  the  fact,  are 
the  Dissenting  ministers  lower  now  ?  Every  one 
who  knows  any  thing  of  the  matter,  will  say  that 
they  are  not ;  and,  that,  as  to  respect  and  rever- 
ence, every  one  knows,  that  all  the  settled  Dissent- 
ing ministers  have  fifty  times  as  much  of  these  as 
falls  to  the  lot  of  the  parsons. 

The  Dissenting  ministers  are  sometimes  traders, 
at  the  same  time  ;  they  are  farmers,  and  dealers. 
And  what  are  the  parsons  ?  Why,  they  are  indeed 
most  positively  forbidden,  by  law,  to  be  farmers 
and  dealers;  they  were  informed  against  for  being 
such  ;  there  was  the  just  law  to  punish  them  for  it : 
they  set  that  law  at  defiance :  the  boroughmonger 
Parliament  repealed  the  law  ;  quashed  the  infor- 
mations against  them  ;  passed  another  la"\v  to  allow 
them  to  farm  and  to  deal.  As  cattle-jobbers ;  as 
dealers  in  cattle,  sheep,  hogs,  and  horses  ;  as  buy- 
ers and  sellers  of  these,  they  are  amongst  the  most 
eminent  and  the  most  busy  in  the  country.  Scarce- 
ly was  that  Act  passed  (43rd  George  III.  chap.  84) 
to  protect  them  against  informations,  and  to  allow 
them  to  farm  and  to  job,  when  the  Botley-parsox 
took,  on  lease,  a  considerable  farm  in  his  parish, 
called  Bracksalls  ;  tnough  the  glebe  that  sur- 
rounded his  parsonage-house  consisted  of  five  fields 


VI.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  127 

and  a  meadow  of  very  good  land  ;  and  though  his 
living  was  worth  from  five  to  six  hundred  pounds  a 
year. 

But,  why  need  we  waste  our  time  in  any  state- 
ment to  show,  that  this  would  necessarily  be  the 
case,  when  the  public  papers  informed  us  of  a  bi- 
shop standing,  as  a  -partner,  behind  a  banker's 
counter,  at  Cambridge,  at  the  time  of  the  panic, 
to  pay  the  pressing  customers,  and  to  give  his 
countenance  in  favour  of  the  solvency  of  the  house  ? 
In  the  London  Gazette  of  Friday,  30  January, 
1835,  was  the  following,  under  the  head  of  bank- 
rupts :  "The  Reverend  Thomas  Fisher,  Kings- 
ton-upon-Hull ;  the  Reverend  John  Fisher,  Hing- 
ham  upon-the-Hill,  Leicestershire  ;  and  Mary  Sim- 
MONDs,  of  Ashby-de-la-Zouch,  Leicestershire, 
BANKERS."  These  men  have  each  of  them  a 
rectory  in  the  Church  ;  and  they  both  most  solemn- 
ly vowed  at  the  altar,  that  they  would  constantly 
attend  to  the  people  committed  to  their  charge  ; 
that  they  would  lay  aside  the  study  of  the  world 
and  the  flesh ;  and  that  they  verily  believed  them- 
selves to  be  inwardly  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
whereupon  they  solemnly  ratified  the  same,  hy  par- 
taking cf  the  Holy  Communion !  If  a  banker  is 
not  a  trafficker  I  should  like  to  know  what  is.  His 
business  is  that  of  money-changing,  indeed.  Very 
proper  business  for  other  men  to  carry  on,  provided 
they  carry  it  on  within  the  limits  prescribed  by  the 
law  ;  but  how  are  the  people  to  have  respect  for  a 
man  who  has  made  the  vows  that  these  men  made, 
relative  to  the  world  and  the  flesh;  and  who  are 
seen  afterwards  carryin  g  on  a  business,  the  sole  object 
of  which  is  that  of  making  money?  These  two  men 
have  large  livings  in  the  Church  ;  so  that  they  have 
notbeentemptedby  their  poverty  to  break  their  vows. 


128  cobbett's  [Letter 

One  more  instance  of  this  sort  will  be  quite 
enough.  I  find  in  the  London  Gazette  of  the  24  of 
March,  1835,  a  list  of  bankrupts,  with  regard  to 
whose  estates  dividends  are  to  be  made  on  the  16 
of  April ;  and,  amongst  these  bankrupts  is  the  fol- 
lowing. "  The  Reverend  S.  W.  Perkins,  Stock- 
ton, Warwickshire,  clerk,  BROKER ;  at  twelve, 
at  the  George  Inn,  Warwick."  Now,  this  holy 
broker  is  the  rector  of  Stockton,  in  the  diocese  of 
Litchfield  and  Coventry,  and  his  rectory  is  a 
large  living ;  and  need  there  be  more  said  on  this 
part  of  the  subject ;  can  any  Dissenting  minister  be 
lower  than  being  a  broker  in  the  very  town  where 
his  congregation  resides  ;  and  within  a  stone's  throw 
of  the  Church,  to  enter  which,  as  a  minister,  he  has 
professed  that  he  believed  he  was  inwardly  moved 
by  the  Holy  Ghost ;  in  that  very  parish  where  he 
had  promised  to  lay  aside  the  study  of  the  world 
and  of  the  flesh,  and  to  live  as  a  wholesome  exam- 
ple and  spectacle  to  the  flock  of  Christ  !  And  this 
man  a  broker ;  a  buyer  and  seller,  purely  for  gain's 
sake;  for  no  other  purpose  whatsoever  but  to  get 
money !  And  yet  Scott  had  the  audacity  to  say, 
that  the  Act  (43d  George  III.  chapter  84)  was  ne- 
cessary to  prevent  men  in  the  Church  from  resem- 
bling the  lower  orders  of  society! 

However,  there  is  something  a  great  deal  worse 
than  this ;  namely,  the  receiving  of  military  and 
naval  pay  ;  or,  rather,  half-pay,  and  being  in  the 
Church  at  the  same  time.  At  the  end  of  the  war, 
great  numbers  of  the  aristocracy,  their  relations, 
and  dependants,  went  into  the  Church.  Every  man 
of  them  professed  at  the  altar,  and  took  the  com- 
munion, as  a  ratification  of  his  profession,  that  he 
verily  believed  that  he  was  inwardly  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  to  take  upon  him  this   new  calling, 


VI.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSON'S.  129 

though  so  different  from  his  last !  Every  one  thus 
solemnly  pledged  himself  to  lay  aside  the  study  of 
the  world  and  the  flesh.  In  spite  of  this,  every  one 
of  them  took  the  half-pay.,  as  being-  still  naval  and 
military  officers !  And,  now  mark  the  conduct  of 
them,  and  of  the  government ;  the  half-pay  is  a 
RETAINING  FEE  FOR  FUTURE  SERVICES. 
I  beg  you  to  mark  this  ;  and  this  half-pay  is  very 
frequently  taken  away,  merely  by  the  king  saying 
to  the  officer,  that  he  has  no  longer  any  need  of  his 
services.  If  called  upon  to  serve,  and  they  refuse 
to  come  out  to  serve,  their  half-pay  is  taken  away. 
It  is  the  same  with  non-commissioned  officers  and 
private  soldiers  ;  and  I  have  just  sent  two  memo- 
rials to  the  paymaster-general,  in  behalf  of  two 
private  soldiers,  who  had  their  pensions  taken  away 
a  good  while  ago.  It  is,  therefore,  you  will  observe, 
not  a.  reward  for  past  services,  but  a  retaining  fee 
for  future  services.  What  a  flagitious  act,  then, 
to  give  these  soldier-parsons  half-pay,  after  they 
had  got  livings  in  the  Church !  Mr.  Hume  com- 
plained of  this,  and  I  made  a  weekly  exposition  of 
the  shameful  transaction  for  a  whole  year,  or  there- 
abouts. At  last  the  half-pay  to  these  men  was 
stopped  ;  but,  now,  do  mark  ;  do  mark,  if  you  have 
a  mind  to  know  this  government,  and  this  Church.  ~ 
A  certain  time  was  to  be  given  before  the  half-pay 
was  to  be' stopped  ;  and  (hear  it,  if  you  have  ears  !) 
before  the  day  of  stopping  arrived,  notice  was 
given,  that  any  officer  might  SELL  his  half-pay, 
out  and  out !  and  yet  Sir  James  Graham  tells  us 
that  the  tithes  do  not  belong  to  the  people,  but  that 
they  belong  to  God  ;  and  he  would  tell  us,  I  dare  say, 
that  these  half-pay  people  were  appointed  by  God, 
to  receive  them  for  him  !  One  of  these  military 
heroes,  who  felt  himself  inwardly  moved  as  afore- 


130  cobbett's  [Letter 

said,  was  the  Honourable  Mr.  Neville,  now  Lord 
Viscount  Neville,  who  was  receiving,  for  about 
twelve  years,  tithes  as  a  parson,  and  half-pay  as  a 
captain  of  horse  ;  and  he  is  now  vicar  of  Byrling, 
rector  of  Holveston,  rector  of  Burgh  Apton,  and 
rector  of  Otley.  And  is  he  to  have  all  these  liv- 
ings still?  and  is  the  Lord  Viscount  to  keep  the 
military  half-pay  that  he  got  during  the  twelve 
years  ?  If  he  be,  I  care  not  if  England  be  sunk  to 
the  bottom  of  the  sea. 

What  is  any  one  to  apprehend  as  the  consequence 
of  putting  an  end  to  a  church  like  this?  Can  any 
thing  arise  more  barefaced  ?  Can  any  thing  arise 
more  offensive  to  the  people  ?  The  LAW  ;  these 
fellows  always  talk  to  us  about  the  law  ;  the  law 
requires  that  the  parsonage-houses,  and  the  build- 
ings belonging  to  them,  shall  be  kept  in  good  and 
sufficient  repair  ;  and  that,  if  any  incumbent  suffer 
the  parsonage-house  to  fall  out  of  repair,  he,  if  he 
quit  that  living  for  another,  shall  pay  for  dilapida- 
tions ;  that  is  to  say,  put  the  house  in  repair  ;  and 
that  if  he  die,  his  property  shall  be  liable  for  the 
same  ;  and  the  law  expressly  provides  that  the  mo- 
ney which  he  or  his  heirs  pay  for  dilapidations  shall 
be  expended  upon  the  house.  To  what  a  scanda- 
lous extent  this  law  has  been  set  at  defiance  appears 
from  a  return  which  the  bishops  had  the  face  to 
make  to  the  kin^  in  council,  in  1818,  from  which 
return  it  appears,  that  even  out  of  the  10,421  bene- 
fices (almost  every  benefice  containing  more  than 
one  parish)  there  were  1,729  benefices  without  any 
parsonage  house  at  all,  and  1,422  parishes,  in  which 
the  parsonage-houses  were  unfit  to  live  in  !  And  the 
bishops,  knowing  the  law,  as  they  must,  had  the 
face  to  make  this  report  to  the  king  in  council ! 
The  reasons  which  the  several  parsons  give  for  th*» 


VI.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  131 

unfitness  of  the  parsonage-houses  are  of  themselves 
quite  sufficient  to  authorize  the  parliament  to  abate 
this  church  by  law.  So  much  insolence,  so  much 
brazen  effrontery,  never  was  before  shown  by  mor- 
tal men.  *  One  says,  that  "  the  parsonag-e-house  is 
too  small;''''  another,  "  not  large  enough  for  the  ac- 
commodation of  a  gentlema'ii's  family ;''''  another 
says,  ^'■incommodious;''''  another  says,  ''^inconve- 
nient;^'' and  they  liad  the  impudence  to  say  this 
when  they  had  obtained  a  letting  loose  from  th« 
law  which  bound  them  to  reside  in  their  parsonage- 
houses.  The  greater  part  of  them,  however,  are 
represented  as  being  in  a  ruinous  state  and  irrepa- 
rable ;  and  the  bishops  tell  us,  that  nearly  two 
thousand  of  them  have  been  suffered  to  fall  down 
and  disappear.  The  parsons  have  pocketed  the 
tithes  and  other  revenues  of  the  parishes,  and  have 
suffered  this  great  mass  of  national  property  to  be 
annihilated  ;  and  if  the  Waterloo-delusion  could 
have  continued,  if  the  great  Captain's  picture  could 
have  continued  on  the  sign-posts,  it  would  not  have 
been  at  all  wonderful  if  a  second  Scott  had  come 
to  propose  to  the  Parliament  a  grant  of  money  to 
rebuild  these  houses.  However,  let  us  congratulate 
ourselves  on  the  fact  that  these  audacious  men  will 
never  make  another  return  like  this  :  the  effects  of 
their  Waterloo-war  have  overtaken  them  at  last. 
Like  a  stag  at  bay,  they  are  got  up  into  a  corner, 
looking  froQi  side  to  side  but  seeing  no  means  of 
escape. 

Amongst  the  evils  of  this  church  is  that  evil  de- 
scribed by  Lord  Bacon,  who  says,  "A  numerous 
married  clergy,  giving  life  to  great  numbers  of 
idlers,  or  persons  never  to  w^ork,  is  very  dangerous 
to  a  State,  by  creating  mouths  without  creating  a 
suitable  portion  of  labour  at  the  same  time."     Now 


132  cobbett's  [Letter 

go  to  the  Navy-list,  go  to  the  Army-list,  go  to  the 
Taxing-offices,  go  to  the  government-offices,  go  to 
the  military  and  naval  Academies,  go  to  the  Pen- 
sion-list, go  to  the  great  schools  and  the  colleges, 
go  to  any  of  these  swarms  of  idle  devourers,  and 
you  willfind  that  not  much  less  than  a  full  third 
part  of  the  whole  have  either  sprung  from  parsons, 
or  married  parsons'  daughters  ;  and  whence  the  par- 
son's  themselves  have  come,  let  it  be  reserved  for 
me  to  tell  when  I  am  in  a  place  differing  a  good 
deal  from  a  farm-house. 

Well,  then,  what  short  of  a  total  repeal  of  all  the 
Jaws  which  create  the  revenue  and  powers  of  this 
mass  of  monstrous  abuse  can  possibly  be  of  any 
avail?  What,  short  of  adopting  the  voluntary 
principle  :  what,  short  of  a  separating  of  the  Church 
from  the  State,  can  give  satisfaction  to  the  people, 
and  peace  to  the  country  ?  RELIGION  !  How  is 
religion  to  suffer  ;  how  is  the  religion  of  the  Bible, 
how  is  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  and  his  Apos- 
tles to  suffer,  by  putting  down  these  monstrous 
abuses,  which  exist  by  a  misapplication  of  its  sa- 
cred name  ?  Can  notoriously  broken  vows  and 
broken  oaths  ;  can  an  open  abandonment  of  the 
flock,  after  a  vow  made  to  watch  constantly  over  it, 
and  that  too  ratified  by  receiving  the  sacrament ; 
can  1,496  parishes  in  the  hands  of  332  men;  can 
these  tend  to  the  promotion  of  morality  and  reli- 
gion; can  it  be  the  duty  of  any  government  to  give 
even  the  slightest  countenance  to  a  thing  like  this  ? 
If  there  were  danger  of  strange  doctrines  rising  up, 
could  a  thing  like  this  prevent  it  ?  If  there  were 
danger  of  heats  and  animosities,  arising  from  dif- 
ferences of  opinion  about  religion,  could  a  thing 
like  this  produce  reconciliation  and  harmony 
amongst  the  parties  ?     If  the  people  were  prone  to 


VI.]  LEGACY    TO   PARSONS.  133 

infidelity  ;  if  conceited  Deism,  or  gloomy  and  half- 
mad  Atheism,  were  likely  to  get  a  hold  upon  this 
at  all  times  religious  people,  would  a  thing  like  this 
have  a  tendency  to  make  it  loosen  its  hold  ?  Would 
the  Deist,  or  the  Atheist,  be  reduced  to  silence,  by 
having  pointed  out  to  him  the  bankrupt  bankers, 
the  bankrupt  broker,  the  retaining-fee-receiving  sol- 
dier; all  of  them  having  at  their  ordination  made  a 
vow  to  lay  aside  the  world  and  the  flesh  !  Would 
the  Deist,  or  the  Atheist,  be  silenced  by  seeing  332 
men  with  1,496  parishes  in  their  hands,  by  seeing 
tithes  paid  where  there  was  no  church  ;  by  seeing 
the  parsonage-houses  tumble  down  into  ruins  ;  and 
lastly,  by  seeing  bishops  sitting  in  a  commission 
to  discover  the  means  of  providing  for  the  cure  of 
souls,  while  each  of  those  bishops  has  given  a  plu- 
rality of  livings  to  relations  of  his  own  ! 

On  the  other  hand,  look  at  the  Dissenters  ;  see 
with  what  strictness  and  what  decorum  they  per- 
form their  duties  to  their  flocks.  Look  at  the  effect 
upon  those  flocks ;  look  at  the  personal  attention 
of  the  ministers  to  individuals  standing  in  need  of 
their  peculiar  care.  Look  at  their  exertions  ;  look 
at  their  labours  ;  look  at  their  unexceptionable  mo- 
ral habits  and  manners  ;  look  at  the  respect  that  is 
paid  to  them  ;  look  at  the  real  afiection  for  them  ; 
turn  then,  and  look  at  the  clergy  of  the  established 
Church,  and  at  the  feeling  of  the  people  towards 
them  ;  and  then  say  if  you  can,  that  RELIGION 
would  not  be  benefitted  ;  that  it  would  not  be,  in  its 
effect,  much  greater  than  no-vv,  if  the  voluntary 
principle  prevailed,  and  if  this  Church  were  separa- 
ted from  the  State.  But  there  is  the  great  Ameri- 
can NATION,  where  it  is  separated  from  the  State, 
and  where  we  are  presented  with  successful  expe- 
rience to  guide  us. 
^  12 


134  cobbett's  [Letter 

Oh  !  say  they,  you  must  not  go  to  America  ;  and 
they  told  us  in  the  House  of  Commons,  that  we 
must  go  to  France,  Prussia,  Austria,  and  Belgium  ! 
Belgium,  where  the  king  is  our  pensioner,  who 
takes  care  to  keep  a  house  well  aired  at  Esher  in 
Surrey.  But  why  not  to  America?  The  people 
there  sprang  from  Englishmen.  The  people  that 
settled  New  Hampshire  went  from  old  Hamp- 
shire ;  and  they  called  the  place  of  their  landing, 
Portsmouth,  and  there  they  built  a  town,  which 
goes  by  that  name  to  this  day ;  and  there  is  a  Nor- 
folk, a  Suffolk,  a  Kent,  a  Sussex,  and  all  the  coun- 
ties and  all  the  towns  of  England  and  Wales. 
There  are  the  laws  of  England  ;  the  manners  of 
England  ;  the  language  of  England ;  the  Winches- 
ter bushel;  the  statute  acre  :  there  is  the  learning 
and  literature  of  England.  There  are  all  our  books  ; 
and  this  book  that  I  am  writing  now,  will  only  ap- 
pear six  weeks  later  in  New  York  than  it  will  ap- 
pear in  London.  Tliis,  then,  is  the  country  to  go 
to  for  a  test  of  the  effect  of  the  voluntary  principle. 
There  the  law  knows  nothing  at  all  about  religions, 
one  sort  or  another  ;  and  it  never  did  know  any- 
thing about  religion,  except  in  that  part  of  the 
States  called  New  England.  There  was  a  law 
there,  somewhat  resembling  the  law  of  England  in 
the  early  period  of  the  institution  of  tithes.  This 
law  compelled  every  man  to  yield  tithes,  but  to 
yield  them  to  whatever  priest  he  chose.  So,  in 
New  England,  every  man  might  pay  towards  the 
support  of  what  sect  and  what  place  of  worship  he 
liked;  but  he  was  compelled  by  law  to  pay  to  sovie 
one.  In  1816,  however,  all  these  laws  were  re- 
pealed in  New  England ;  and  since  that,  in  that 
country,  the  law  has  known  nothing  of  religion,  any 
more  than  it  has  known  of  the  conduct  of  the  birds 


VI.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  135' 

and  the  bats.  Yet  in  this  whole  world  was  there 
ever  a  country,  in  which  such  complete  peace  and 
harmony  prevailed  !  Never  is  such  a  thing  heard 
of,  as  a  quarrel  of  one  religious  sect  against  another. 
In  social  intercourse  ;  in  the  courts  of  law  ;  in  the 
choosing  of  officers,  political  or  municipal ;  in  le- 
gislative assemblies  ;  in  the  senate  ;  on  the  ben.ch  ; 
m  the  army  ;  in  the  navy  ;  church-man,  Roman 
Catholic,  Presbyterian,  Baptist,  Methodist,  Unita- 
rian, Independent,  all  mix  together,  without  a  sus- 
picion in  any  man's  mind,  that  his  cause,  in  the 
case  of  any  dispute,  is  safer  in  the  hands  of  per- 
sons of  his  own  sect,  than  in  those  of  the  persons 
of  any  other  sect.  Here,  then,  is  the  precedent  up- 
on which  for  us  to  stand  :  here  is  solid  ground  for 
us  to  move  upon  ;  and  let  no  statesman  in  England 
imagine  that  this  example  can  be  exhibited  to  our 
eyes  for  many  years  longer,  without  goading  us  on 
to  imitation. 

The  surprising  progress  in  wealth,  power,  arts, 
arms,  science,  and  prosperity  of  the  United  States, 
is  silently  producing  an  effect  on  all  the  nations  of 
Europe  ;  but  particularly  on  England.  It  is  an- 
other England,  at  only  twenty  days  distance  ;  and 
it  is  impossible  ;  not  only  morally,  but  almost  phy- 
sically, impossible,  that  this'^England  should  view 
the  state  of  that  other  England,  for  any  length  of 
time,  without  resolving  to  be  its  rival  in  freedom 
and  in  happiness,  and  particularly  on  the  score  of 
freedom  as  to  religion.  Our  aristocracy,  (never 
deficient  in  low  cunning,  and  in  spite)  saw,  at  the 
close  of  the  French  war,  the  final  effect  of  the  ex- 
ample of  the  United  States  upon  England.  This 
was  the  real  ground  of  that  war  which  Jacksov 
ended  at  New  Orleans,  and  which  heroic  and  bul- 
let proof  Waterloo  took  care  not  to  have  a  hand 


136  cobbett's  [Lettei 

in ;  that  war,  which  added  seventy  millions  to  oui 
debt,  and  which  first  told  us  the  unwelcome  secret, 
that  we  had  found  out  somebody  to  heat  us  at  lasti 
and  beat  us  they  will,  in  every  thing,  unless  we  re- 
solve to  imitate  them  in  cheapness  of  government y 
and  in  a  religion  unknown  to  the  laws;  and,  il 
there  were  no  other  motive  for  resorting  to  these, 
we  shall  be  compelled  to  resort  to  them  in  self-de^ 
fence. 

Having  now  shown  what  this  thing  called 
"  Church  and  State"  is ;  and  having  proved,  I 
trust,  most  satisfactorily,  that  a  separation  of  the 
one  from  the  other,  is  not  less  necessary  to  the  in- 
culcation of  true  religion,  than  it  is  to  the  freedom, 
the  peace,  and  the  well-being  of  the  Common- 
wealth, I  should  here  lay  down  my  pen  ;  but  I 
must,  in  conclusion,  just  notice  the  curious  princi- 
ple, which  I  hear  many  men,  to  my  great  surprise, 
accede  to  without  difficulty ;  namely,  that  though  it  is 
just  and  expedient  to  put  an  end  to  the  monstrous 
abuses  of  which  I  have  been  speaking,  "  existing 
interests^^  are  not  to  be  touched ;  that  is  to  say, 
that  all  those  who  are  wallowing  in  the  fruits  of  the 
abuses,  are  therein  to  wallow  to  the  end  of  their 
lives.  So  that  while  ^^pluralities  are  to  he  put  an 
end  to,''"'  and  a  residence  is  to  he  insisted  on,  the 
young  fellows  (and  there  are  scores  upon  scores  of 
them,)  each  of  whom  has  four  or  fire  parishes  now ; 
and  these  scores  and  other  scores,  and  hundreds, 
who  are  now  7ion-residing,  are  to  continue  to  pos- 
sess their  parishes,  and  to  non-reside,  to  the  end  of 
their  lives,  leaving  to  the  nation  a  pretty  fair 
chance  of  seeing  something  like  a  reform  effected 
in  about  three-score  years  from  this  day  !.  Oh,  no, 
let  us,  in  this  respect,  take  a  leaf  out  of  the  book 
of  the  Church  itself:  let  the  law  do  by  these  par- 


VI.]  LEGACY  TO  PARSONS.  137 

sons  as  it  did  by  the  Catholic  priests  ;  that  is  to 
say,  as  to  method;  but  not  in  degree.  They  were 
left  to  vrander  over  the  face  of  the  earth,  miserable 
mendicants,  with  the  mere  mockery  of  a  pension: 
let  us  be  merciful  ;  and  make  suitable  provision  for 
such  as  sliall  think  proper  to  refuse  to  perform  the 
duties  in  the  churches  on  the  voluntary  principle : 
and,  I  have  long  thought  that  this  would  be  the 
end  ;  and  the  conviction  in  my  mind  is  now  more 
firmly  fixed  than  ever. 

Parsons,  thus  I  conclude  :  /  call  vpon  you  to  an- 
swer this  hook.  That  you  will  not  attempt  to  do  ; 
but  the  minds  of  my  readers  will  be  made  up,  and 
the  just  conclusion  will  be,  that  you  are  unable  to 
answer. 


THE   ACT   OF    PARLIAMENT    BY   WHICH 
THE  CHUIICH  WAS  MADE. 

2  AND  3  Edward  the  Sixth,  chapter  I. 

An  Act  for  the  Uniformity  of  Service  and  Admin- 
istration of  the  Sacraments  throughout  the 
Realm. 

Whereas,  of  long  time,  there  hath  been  had  in 
this  realm  of  England,  and  in  Wales,  divers  Forms 
of  Common  Prayer,  commonly  called  the  Service 
of  the  Church,  that  is  to  say,  the  use  of  Sarum,  of 
York,  of  Bangor,  and  of  Lincoln  ;  and  besides  the 
same,  now  of  late  much  more  divers  and  sundry 
forms  and  fashions  have  been  used  in  the  cathedral 
and  parish  churches  of  England  and  Wales,  as 
well  concerning  the  Mattens  or  Morning  Prayer 
and  the  Evensong,  as  also  concerning  the  Holy 
12* 


138  cobbett's  [Letter 

Communion,  commonly  called  the  Mass,  with  clivers 
and  sundry  rites  and  ceremonies  concerning  the 
same,  and  in  the  administration  of  other  Sacraments 
of  the  Church  :  And  as  the  doers  and  executors  of 
the  said  rites  and  ceremonies,  in  other  form  than  of 
late  years  they  have  been  used,  were  pleased  there- 
with :  So  other  not  using  the  same  rites  and  cere- 
monies were  thereby  greatly  offended  :  And  Albeit 
the  King's  Majesty,  w^ith  the  advice  of  his  most  en- 
tirely beloved  uncle,  the  Lord  Protector,  and  other 
of  his  Highness  Council,  hath  heretofore  divers 
times  assayed  to  stay  innovations  or  new  rights 
concerning  the  premisses ;  yet  the  same  hath  not 
had  such  good  success  as  his  Highness  required  in 
that  behalf;  whereupon  his  Highness,  by  the  most 
prudent  advice  aforesaid,  being  pleased  to  bear 
with  the  frailty  and  weakness  of  his  subjects  in  that 
behalf,  of  #iis  great  clemency  hath  not  been  only 
content  to  abstain  from  punishment  of  those  that 
have  offended  in  that  behalf,  for  that  his  Highness 
taketh  that  they  did  it  of  a  good  zeal  ;  but  also  to 
the  intent  a  uniform  quiet  and  godly  order  should 
be  had  concerning  the  premisses,  hath  appointed 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  certain  of  the 
most  learned  and  discreet  bishops,  and  other  learn- 
ed men  of  this  realm,  to  consider  and  ponder  the 
premisses;  and  thereupon  having  as  well  an  eye 
and  respect  to  the  most  sincere  and  pure  Christian 
religion  taught  by  the  Scripture,  as  the  usages  in 
the  primitive  Church,  should  draw  and  make  one 
convenient  and  meet  Order,  Rite,  and  Fashion  of 
Common  and  open  Prayer  and  Administration  of 
the  Sacraments,  to  be  had  and  used  in  his  Majesty's 
realm  oi  England  and  in  Wales;  the  which  "at  this 
time,  hy  the  aid  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  with  one  uniform 
agreement  is  of  them  concluded,  set  forth  and  de- 


VI.]  LEGACY    TO    PARSONS.  139 

livered  to  his  Highness,  to  his  great  comfort  and 
quietness  of  mind,  in  a  book  intituled.  The  Book'of 
the  Cornmon  Prayer  and  Administration  of  the  Sa- 
craments, and  other  Rites  and  Ceremonies  of  the 
Church,  after  the  Use  of  the  Church  of  England. 
Wherefore  the  Lords  Spiritual  and  Temporal,  and 
the  Commons,  in  this  present  Parliament  assembled, 
considering  as  well  the  most  godly  travel  of  the 
King's  Highness,  of  the  Lord  Protector,  and  of 
other  his  Highness  Council,  in  gathering  and  col- 
lecting the  said  Archbishop,  Bishops,  and  learned 
men  together,  as  the  godly  Prayers,  Orders,  Rites, 
and  Ceremonies  in  the  said  book  mentioned,  and 
the  considerations  of  altering  those  things  which  he 
altered,  and  retaining  those  things  which  he  retained 
in  the  said  book,  but  also  the  honour  of  God  and 
great  quietness,  which,  by  the  grace  of  God,  shall 
ensue  upon  the  one  and  uniform  Rite  and  Order  in 
such  Common  Prayer  and  Rites  and  external  Cere- 
monies to  be  used  throughout  England  and  in 
Wales,  at  Calice  and  the  Marches  of  the  same,  do 
give  to  his  Highness  most  hearty  and  lowly  thanks 
for  the  same.  And  humbly  pray  en  that  it  may  be 
ordained  and  enacted  by  His  Majesty,  with  the  as- 
sent of  the  Lords  and  Commons  in  this  present 
Parliament  assembled,  and  by  the  authority  of  the 
same,  that  all  and  singular  person  and  persons  that 
have  offended  concerning  the  premisses,  other  than 
such  person  and  persons  as  now  be  and  remain  in 
the  Tower  of  London,  or  in  the  Fleet,  may  be  par- 
doned thereof;  and  that  all  and  singular  ministers 
in  any  Cathedral  or  Parish  Church,  or  other  place 
within  this  realm  of  England,  Wales,  Calice,  and 
the  Marches  of  the  same,  or  other  the  King's  do- 
minions, shall,  from  and  after  the  Feast  of  Pente- 
cost next  coming,  be  bounden   to  say  and  use  the 


140  cobbett's  [Letter 

Mattens,  Evensong,  Celebration  of  the  Lord's  Sup 
pA",  commonly  called  the  Mass,  and  Administration 
of  each  of  the  Sacraments,  and  all  their  common 
and  open  Prayer,  in  such  order  and  form  as  is  men 
tioned  in  the  same  book,  and  none  other  or  other- 
wise. And  albeit  that  the  same  be  so  godly  and 
good,  that  they  give  Occasion  to  every  honest  and 
conformable  man  most  willingly  to  embrace  them, 
yet,  lest  any  obstinate  person,  who  willingly  would 
disturb  so  godly  order  and  quiet  in  this  realm  should 
not  go  unpunished,  that  it  may  also  be  ordained  and 
enacted,  by  the  authority  aforesaid.  That  if  any  man- 
ner of  Parson,  Yicar,  or  other  whatsoever  Minister, 
that  ought  or  should  sing  or  say  Common  Prayer 
mentioned  in  the  said  book,  or  minister  the  Sacra- 
ments, shall,  after  the  said  Feast  oi'  Pentecost  next 
coming,  refuse  to  use  the  said  Common  Prayers,  or  to 
minister  the  Sacraments  in  such  Cathedral  or  Parish 
Church,  or  other  places  as  he  should  use  or  minis- 
ter the  sam.e,  in  such  order  and  form  as  they  be 
mentioned  and  set  forth  in  the  said  book  ;  or  shall 
use,  wilfully  and  obstinately  standing  in  the  same, 
any  other  Rite,  Ceremony,  Order,  Form,  or  manner 
of  Mass,  openly  or  privily,  or  Mattens,  Evensong, 
Administration  of  the  Sacraments,  or  other  Open 
Prayer  than  is  mentioned  and  set  forth  in  the  said 
book  (Open  Prayer  in  and  throughout  this  Act,  is 
meant  that  Prayer  which  is  for  other  to  come  unto 
or  hear,  either  in  common  Cliurches  or  private 
Chapels  or  oratories,  commonly  called  the  Service 
of  the  Church  ;)  or  shall  preach,  declare,  or  speak 
any  thing  in  the  derogation  or  depraving  of  the  said 
book,  or  any  thing  therein  contained,  or  of  any  part 
thereof;  and  shall  be  thereof  lawfully  convicted 
according  to  the  laws  of  this  realm,  by  verdict  of 
twelve  men,  or  by  his  own  confession,  or  by  the  no- 


VI.]  LEGACY    TO    PARSONS.  141 

torious  evidence  of  the  fact,  shall  lose  and  forfeit  to 
the  King's  Highness,  his  Heirs  and  Successors,  for 
the  first  offence,  the  profit  of  such  one  of  his  spiritual 
benefices  or  promotions  as  it  shall  please  the  Kings 
Highness  to  assign  or  appoint,  coming  and  arising 
in  one  whole  year  next  after  his  conviction  :  And 
also  that  the  same  person  so  convicted  shall,  for  the 
same  offence,  suffer  imprisonment  by  the  space  of 
six  months,  without  bail  or  mainprise  :  And  if  any 
such  person  once  convict  of  any  such  offence  con- 
cerning the  premisses,  shall,  after  his  first  con- 
viction, eftsoons  offend  and  be  thereof  in  form 
aforesaid  lawfully  convict,  that  then  the  same  per- 
son shall  for  his  second  offence  suffer  imprison- 
ment by  the  space  of  one  whole  year ;  and  also 
shall  therefore  be  deprived  ipso  facto  of  all  his 
spiritual  promotions ;  and  that  it  shall  be  lawful  to 
all  patrons,  donors,  and  grantees,  of  all  and  singular 
the  same  spiritual  promotions,  to  present  to  the 
same  any  other  able  clerk,  in  like  manner  and  form 
as  though  the  party  so  offending  were  dead :  And 
that  if  any  such  person  or  persons,  after  he  shall 
be  twice  convicted  in  form  aforesaid,  shall  offend 
against  any  of  the  premisses  the  third  time,  and 
shall  be  thereof  in  form  aforesaid  lawfully  convicted, 
that  then  the  person  so  offending  and  convicted  the 
third  time,  shall  suffer  imprisonment  during  his 
life.  And  if  the  person  that  shall  offend  and  be 
convict  in  form  aforesaid  concerning  any  of  the 
premisses,  shall  not  be  beneficed  nor  have  any  spirit- 
ual promotion,  that  then  the  same  person  so  offend- 
ing and  convict  shall,  for  the  first  offence,  suffer  im- 
prisonment during  six  months,  without  bail  or  main- 
prise :  And  if  any  such  person  not  having  any 
spiritual  promotion,  after  his  first  conviction,  shall 
eftsoons  offend  in  any  thing  concerning  the  premis- 


143  cobbett's  [Letter 

ses,  and  shall  in  form  aforesaid  be  thereof  lawfully 
convicted,  that  then  the  same  person  shall,  for  his 
second  offence,  suffer  imprisonment  during  his  life. 
And  it  is  ordained  and  enacted  by  the  authority 
aforesaid,  that  if  any  person  or  persons  whatso- 
ever, after  the  said  Feast  o(  Pentecost  next  corning, 
shall,  in  any  enterludes,  plays,  songs,  rhiraes,  or  by 
other  open  words,  declare  or  speak  any  thing  in  the 
derogation,  depraving  or  despising  of  the  same 
book  or  of  any  thing  therein  contained,  or  any  par^t 
thereof;  or  shall  by  open  fact,  deed,  or  by  open 
threatenings,  compel,  or  cause,  or  otherwise  pro- 
cure or  maintain,  any  Parson,  Vicar,  or  other  Mi- 
nister in  any  Cathedral  or  Parish  Church,  or  in  any 
Chapel  or  other  place,  to  sing  or  say  any  common 
and  open  prayer,  or  to  minister  any  Sacrament 
otherwise  or  in  any  other  manner  or  form  than  is 
mentioned  in  the  said  book  ;  or  that,  by  any  of  the 
said  means,  shall  unlawfully  interrupt,  or  let  any 
Parson,  Vicar,  or  other  Ministers,  in  any  Cathedral 
or  Parish  Church,  Chapel,  or  any  other  place,  to 
sing  or  say  common  and  open  Prayer,  or  to  minister 
the  Sacraments,  or  any  of  them,  in  any  such  man- 
ner and  form  as  is  mentioned  in  the  said  book  :  That 
then  every  person  being  thereof  lawfully  convicted 
in  form  abovesaid,  shall  forfeit  to  the  King,  om 
Sovereign  Lord,  his  Heirs  and  Successors,  for  the 
first  offence  ten  pounds.  And  if  any  person  or  per- 
sons, being  once  convicted  of  any  such  offence,  eft- 
soons  offend  against  any  of  the  premisses,  and  shall 
in  form  aforesaid  be  thereof  lawfully  convict,  that 
then  the  same  persons  so  offending  and  convict, 
shall  for  the  second  offence,  forfeit  to  the  King,  our 
Sovereign  Lord,  his  Heirs  and  Successors,  twenty 
pounds  :  And  if  any  person,  after  he  in  form  afore- 
said shall  have  been  twice  convict  of  any  offence 


VL]  LEGACY    TO    PARSONS.  143 

concerning  and  of  the  premisses,  shall  offend  the 
third  time,  and  be  thereof  in  form  abovesaid  law- 
fully convict,  that  then  every  person  so  offending 
and  convict  shall  for  his  third  offence  forfeit  to  our 
Sovereign  Lord  the  King  all  his  goods  and  chattels, 
and  shall  suffer  imprisonment  during  his  life.  And 
if  any  person  or  persons,  that  for  his  first  offence 
concerning  the  premisses  shall  be  convict  in  form 
aforesaid,  do  not  pay  the  sum  to  be  paid  by  vertue 
of  his  conviction,  in  such  manner  and  form  as  the 
same  ought  to  be  paid,  within  six  weeks  next  after 
his  conviction ;  that  then  every  person  so  convict, 
and  go  not  paying  the  same,  shall,  for  the  first  of- 
fence, instead  of  the  said  ten  pound,  suffer  impri- 
sonment by  the  space  of  three  months  without  bail 
or  mainprise.  And  if  any  person  or  persons,  that 
for  his  second  offence  concerning  the  premisses  shall 
be  convict  in  form  aforesaid,  do  not  pay  the  sum  to 
be  paid  by  vertue  of  his  conviction,  in  such  manner 
and  form  as  the  same  ought  to  be  paid  within  six 
weeks  next  after  his  said  second  conviction  ;  that 
then  every  person  so  convicted,  and  not  so  paying 
the  same,  shall,  for  the  same  second  offence,  in  the 
stead  of  the  said  twenty  pounds,  suffer  imprison- 
ment during  six  months,  without  bail  or  mainprise. 

N.  B. —  The  rest  of  the  Act  consists  of  the  tech- 
nical  matters  as  to  the  execution  thereof. 


^-HE    END. 


OOBBETT'S 
LEGACY  TO  LABOURERS; 

oa, 

WHAT   18   THB  BIGHT  WHICH  THE  LORDS,     BARONETS,     AND   'S4UIRB3,    HATB 
TO  THE  LANDS   OF  ENGLAND  7 


N  SIX  LETTERS, 

ADDRESSED  TO  THE  WORKING  PEOPLE  OF  ENGLAND 

WITH 

A  DEDICATION  TO  SIR  ROBERT  PEEL.   BART 


BY  WILLIAM  COBBETT,   ESQ.  M.  P- 


FOR    OLDHAM. 


NEW  YORK : 
D.   &  J.     SADLI  ER, 

58  Gold  Street. 
1845. 


CONTENTS. 


Dedication  to  Sir  Robert  Peel  ;  "stating  the  rea- 
sons for  writing  the  book,  and  also 
the  reasons  for  dedicating  it  to  him. 

Letter  I.  How  came  some  men  to  have  a  greater 
right  to  parcels  of  land  than  any- 
other  men  have  to  the  same  land,? 

Letter  IL  What  right  have  English  landlords  to 
the  lands  ?  How  came  they  in  pos- 
session of  them  ?  Of  what  nature  is 
their  title  ? 

Letter  HL  Is  their  right  to  the  land  absolute  ?  Is 
the  land  now  their  own  ?  or,  are  they 
still  holders  under  a  superior  ? 

Letter  IV.  Have  they  dominion  in  their  lands  ? 
Or,  do  they  lawfully  pcjssess  only  the 
use  of  them  ?  Can  they  do  what  they 
like  with  their  lands  ? 

Letter  V.  Can  they  use  them  so  as  to  drive  the 
natives  from  them  ? 

Letter  VI.  Can  they  use  them  so  as  to  cause  the 
natives  to  perish  of  hunger,  or  of 
cold? 


DEDICATION. 


TO  SIR  ROBERT  PEEL,  BARONET. 

WolseUy  Hall,  10  Dec,  1834. 

5-1, 

Tt)EDicATioNs  are,  generally,  things  of  a  very  un- 
meaning character.  Whatever  this  may  be  in  other 
respects,  it  shall  not  be  without  a  meaning  :  it  shall 
state  to  you,  without  flattery  and  without  rudeness  ; 
FIRST,  my  reasons  for  writing  and  publishing  this 
book ;  and,  second,  my  reasons  for  dedicating  it 
to  you. 

My  reasons  for  writing  and  publishing  this  book 
are  these  :  it  has  always  been  my  wish,  that  the  in- 
stitutions of  England  and  her  fundamental  laws 
sbould  remain  unchanged.  Not  that  I  was  unable 
to  discover,  in  the  order  of  nobility,  and  in  the  cir- 
cumstances connected  with  tliat  order  ;  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  immense  property  of  the  church ; 
in  some  other  really  properly  called  institutions  of 
the  country,  things  which  I  could  have  wished  to 
be  otherwise,  than  to  be  as  they  were  :  but  there 
was  so  much  of  good  in  the  institutions  which  we 
inherited  from  our  fathers,  that  I  always  looked  at 
any  change  in  them  with  great  apprehension.  But,  * 
with  regard  to  the  innovations  on  those  institutions; 
with  regard  to  the  monstrous  encroachments  of  the 
aristocracy  and  of  the  usurers,  Mithin  the  last  fifty 
years  especially,  it  was  impossible  for  me  not  to 
A2 


6  DEDICATION. 

wish  for  a  change,  and  as  impossible  for  me  not  to 
resolvre  on  assisting  in  effecting  that  change,  if  it 
were  to  be  effected.  It  was  impossible  for  me  to 
look  at  the  new  treason  laws,  new  felony  laws, 
Bourbon-police  laws,  laws  violating  the  compact 
between  the  people  and  the  clergy,  new  and  multi- 
plied laws  hostile  to  the  freedom  of  the  press,  hun- 
dreds of  acts  of  parliament,  subjecting  men's  per- 
sons and  property  to  be  disposed  of,  to  a  certain 
extent,  without  trial  by  jury  ;  the  monstrous  par- 
tiality in  taxation;  a  standing  army  in  time  of 
peace,  greater  than  was  ever  before  needed  in  time 
of  war ;  new  crimes  in  abundance,  created  by  act 
of  parliament ;  new  punishments  for  old  crimes  ; 
employment  of  spies  justified  in  the  Houses  of  Par- 
liament, or,  at  least,  no  punishment  inflicted  on  any 
one  for  being  a  spy,  or  for  having  employed  spies. 

It  was  impossible  for  me  to  behold  these  things ; 
to  hold  a  pen  at  the  same  time,  and  to  know  that  a 
good  many  of  my  countrymen  were  ready  to  read 
what  I  wrote  ;  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  be  thus 
situated,  and  not  exert  myself  in  an  endeavour  to 
put  a  stop  to  these  encroachments,  and  to  bring  my 
country  back  to  something  like  the  government 
which  existed  when  I  was  born  ;  to  put  a  stop  to 
the  Bourbon  innovations,  and  to  bring  England 
back  again  to  English  government. 

I  was  in  hopes  that  the  "  Reformed  Parliament" 
would,  at  once,  have  set  to  work  to  sweep  away 
these  innovations.  Not  only  did  it  not  do  this,  but 
it  set  itself  to  work  to  add  to  them  in  number,  and 
•  to  enlarge  those  that  already  existed.  I  pass  over 
twenty  instances  of  this,  and  come  to  that  great  and 
terrible  innovation,  the  Poor-Law  Bill.  Long  be- 
fore I  was  in  parliament,  I  saw  the  deep-laid  scheme 
gradually  preparing  for  execution.     When  it  was 


DEDICATION.  7 

matured  and  brought  before  us,  I  opposed  it  with 
all  my  might.  I  did  every  thing  that  I  could  do  to 
prevent  it  from  being  passed. 

In  this  case  how  stood  the  matter  ?  There  was  a 
proposition  to  abrogate  (though  not  by  name,)  in 
effect,  those  rights  of  the  poor  which  had  always 
existed,  since  England  had  been  called  England  ; 
which  rights  had  been  so  solemnly  recognised  by 
the  Act  of  the  43d  of  Elizabeth  ;  which  act  had 
existed  upwards  of  two  hundred  years,  and  which 
had  seen,  during  its  existence,  the  most  orderly,  the 
most  independent,  yet  the  most  obedient ;  the  best 
fed  and  the  best  clad,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the 
most  industrious,  and  most  adroit  working  people 
that  ever  lived  upon  the  fece  of  the  earth,  being, 
along  with  these  qualities,  the  best  parents,  the  best 
children,  the  most  faithful  servants,  the  most  re- 
spectful in  their  demeanour  towards  superiors,  that 
ever  formed  a  part  of  any  civil  community. 

And,  sir,  what  was  the  ground  stated  for  abro- 
gating this  law  ;  for  uprooting  the  old  and  amiable 
parochial  governments  of  England  ?  What  was  the 
ground  stated  for  the  doing  of  this  thing ;  for  the 
sweeping  away  of  this  government,  carried  on  by 
neighbours  for  their  mutual  good  and  happiness  ; 
what  was  ther  ground  stated  for  the  tearing  to  pieces 
of  this  family  government,  and  subjecting  thirteen 
thousand  parishes  to  the  absolute  will  of  three  com- 
missioners, stuck  up  in  London  by  the  servants  of 
the  king,  and  removeable  at  their  pleasure  ?  Why, 
the  grounds  were  as  fo*llow,  as  stated  by  the  Lord 
Chancellor,  who  was  backed  by  Lord  Radnor  and 
by  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  and  a  majority  of 
the  two  Houses,  you,  sir,  being  in  the  majority  of 
one  of  those  Houses. 

There  were  many  pretences  urged  ;  many  asser- 


9  DEDICATION. 

tions  made  ;  but  the  main  ground,  which,  like  the 
rod  of  Aaron,  devoured  all  the  rest,  was,  that,  if 
this  Bill  were  not  passed,  the  poor-rates  would  soon 
swallow  up  the  estates  of  the  lords  and  the  gentle- 
men ;  and  that  it  was  necessary  to  be  passed,  in 
order  to  save  their  estates  ;  for  that,  unless  it  were 
passed,  there  was  no  security  for  property. 

Often  as  I  have  disproved  these  assertions  ;  often 
as  I  have  shown  that  the  increased  amount  of  poor- 
rates  has  not  been  so  great,  nor  any  thing  like  sp 
great,  as  the  increased  amount  of  rent  and  taxes. 
Often  as  I  have  shown  that  the  inevitable  tendency 
of  the  Bill  is,  to  bring  down  the  farmers  and  labour 
ers  of  England  to  the  state  of  those  in  Ireland  ;  often 
as  I  have  shown  these  things,  I  must  show  them 
again  here ;  because  I  intend  this  little  book  to  go 
into  every  parish  in  this  whole  kingdom ;  and  to  be 
in  all  the  industrious  classes  (who  alone  give 
strength  to  the  country,  and  who  furnish  the  rich 
with  all  their  riches,)  the  YOUNG  MAN'S  BEST, 
MOST  USEFUL  AND  MOST  FAITHFUL  COM- 
PANION. 

With  regard  to  the  increase  of  the  poor-rates, 
and  their  capacity  of  swallowing  up  estates ;  this 
charge  against  the  working  people  of  England,  is, 
as  I  am  about  to  show,  as  false  as  that  of  the  filthy 
Elders  against  Susannah  ;  or,  which  is  more  a  case 
in  point,  as  false  as  the  charge  of  the  she-devil  Je- 
zebel against  Naboth.  The  poor-rates,  by  all  the 
liars  of  the  new  poor-law  scheme,  are  made  to 
amount  to  upwards  of  eight  millions  a  year  ;  but 
the  return  laid  before  us  in  Parliament  has  that 
much  of  honesty  in  it  to  take  off  two  millions  and 
more,  and  ascribe  them  to  other  heads  of  local  ex- 
penditure, stating  to  us  that  the  sum  expended  on 
account  of  the  poor,  amounts  to  six  millions  seven 


DEDICATION.  9 

hundred  thousand  pounds  a  year.  From  this  we 
are  to  deduct  what  is  laid  out  on  law,  on  hired 
overseers ;  on  things  invented  for  the  purpose  of 
punishing  the  poor  ;  and,  besides  these,  there  are 
the  sums  expended  on  account  of  "  Irish  and  Scotch 
vagrants ;"  so  that,  even  these  expenses,  which 
arise  out  of  a  want  of  efficient  poor-laws  in  Scot- 
land, and  out  of  a  want  of  any  poor-laws  in  Ire- 
land, are  laid  to  the  charge  of  the  slandered  work- 
ing people  of  England  !  As  much  pains  as  possible 
are  taken  to  confuse  these  accounts ;  but  I  venture 
to  say,  that,  if  the  House  of  Commons  do  its  duty 
and  get  to  the  bottom  of  this  matter,  it  will  be  found 
that  not  more  than  four  millions  out  of  the  eight 
millions  of  pounds,  are  actually  received  by  the 
poor;  and  that  a  very  considerable  part  of  that  is 
required  to  maintain  the  wdves  and  children  of  men 
imprisoned  or  transported,  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
securing  the  enjoyment  of  the  pleasures  of  the 
rich ;  that  is  to  say,  for  killing,  or  being  in  pursuit 
of,  those  wild  animals,  which,  as  I  shall  have  to 
show  in  the  course  of  this  book,  the  law  of  nature, 
the  law^s  of  God,  and  the  fundamental  laws  of  Eng- 
land, declare  to  be  the  common  property  of  all 
mankind. 

But,  taking  the  matter  upon  the  showing  of  these 
confused,  unsatisfactory,,  and  really  false  accounts, 
recently  presented  to  us  ;  taking  it  to  be  true  that 
the  poor  cost  six  millions  seven  hundred  thousand 
pounds  a  year ;  taking  it  to  be  true  that  these  ac- 
counts are  correct,  are  we  to  suppose  that  the  poor- 
rates  were  to  be  stationary,  while  rents  and  taxes 
were  augmented  ten  or  twenty  fold  ?  I  might  men- 
tion the  increase  of  population,  if  I  had  a  m.ind  to 
avail  myself  of  it ;  but  knowing  that  to  be  a  prodi- 
gious  national   lie ;    knowing    that   England    and 


10  DEDICATION. 

Wales  were,  fifty  years  ago,  upon  the  whole,  more 
populous  than  they  are  now,  or,  at  least,  fully  as 
populous,  I  leave  that  lie  for  the  use  of  the  "  So- 
ciety of  Useful  Knowledge  ;"  and  confine  myself  to 
rents  and  taxes.  With  regard  to  rents,  it  is  noto- 
rious that  they  are  twice  as  high  as  they  were  forty- 
four  years  ago  ;  and,  pray,  why  are  not  the  poor- 
rates  to  increase  in  the  same  proportion?  Why 
should  not  the  poor  be  more  costly,  as  the  landlord's 
income  has  become  greater  ?  But,  it  is  the  taxes 
that  make  the  curious  exhibition  when  compared 
with  the  poor-rates.  The  following  figures,  stating 
the  amount  of  the  rates,  in  the  reign  of  James  the 
Second;  in  the  year  1776;  in  the  year  1789;  and 
in  the  year  1833,  ought  to  be  familiar  to  every  man 
who  takes  upon  himself  the  office  of  being  an  ad- 
viser of  the  king.  I  will  waive  all  that  I  have  said 
about  the  falsehood  of  the  statement  of  expenses 
imputed  to  the  poor,  and  will  suppose  the  poor  to 
have  cost  last  year  six  millions  seven  hundred  thou- 
sand pounds  ;  and  then  the  comparative  statement 
of  poor-rates  and  taxes  will  stand  as  follows  :  I  just 
observing  here,  that,  as  to  the  government  taxes, 
the  statement  here  includes  the  taxes  of  the  three 
kingdoms,  I  being  unable  to  separate  them  by  the 
means  of  any  documents  that  I  possess.  Five  sixths 
of  the  whole  are,  indeed,  raised  in  England  and 
Wales  ;  but  this  is  no  matter  with  regard  to  my 
present  purpose,  the  proportion  being  as  true  as  if 
the  amount  paid  by  each  of  the  kingdoms  could  be 
ascertained.     Thus,  then,  stands  the  matter. 

POOR  RATES.   GOVT.  TAXES. 


£ 

£ 

Reign  of  James  II. 

160,000 

1.300,000 

1776 

1,496,906 

8,000.000 

1789 

2,250,000 

16,000,000 

1833 

6,700,000 

f -^  O00.000 

DEDICATION.  11 

Ought  not  the  insolent  calumniators  of  the  indus- 
trious classes  of  England  to  blush  at  the  sight  of 
this  ?  Ought  not  these  impudent  and  unfeeling  men 
to  think  a  little  of  the  consequence  of  their  thus 
wantonly  calumniating  this  laborious  people,  and 
calling  them  "  idle  and  sturdy  vagabonds  ?"  Must 
it  not  be  evident  to  every  one,  witliout  going  into 
particular  instances  or  illustrations,  that  the  increase 
of  poor-rates  has  arisen  from  the  increase  of  rents 
and  the  increase  of  taxes ;  and  not  at  all  from  any 
defect  in  the  poor-laws,  nor  from  any  defect  in  their 
administration  by  overseers  and  magistrates  ?  How 
comes  it  that  they  never  produced  all  this  mass  of 
evil  attributed  to  them,  in  the  course  of  two  hun- 
dred years  ?  And  how  comes  it  that  they  produce 
no  such  evils  now,  in  the  untaxed  United  States  of 
America? 

It  is  true,  that  the  nation  is  burdened,  even  to 
the  breaking  of  it  down  :  it  is  true  that  the  farmers 
are  ruined  by  prices  equal  to  the  prices  of  forty 
years  ago  ;  but,  are  they  ruined  by  the  six  millions 
(jillowing  it  to  be  the  six  millions  ;)  or,  are  they 
ruined  by  the  tifty-two  millions  ?  It  is  also  true  that 
a  very  large  part,  and  the  greater  part,  of  landlords 
are  upon  the  point  of  utter  ruin  ;  but  have  they 
been  ruined  by  the  six  millions,  or  by  the  fifty-two 
millions  ?  Have  they  been  ruined  by  the  poor  rates  ; 
or  by  the  expense  of  the  standing  army  in  time  of 
peace  ;  by  the  pensions,  sinecures,  grants  and  al- 
lowances, half-pay,  amounting  altogether  to  between 
six  and  seven  millions  a  year  ;  and  by  the  thirty 
millions  a  year  paid  to  the  usurers,  more  than  dou- 
bled in  real  amount  by  the  passing  of  your  bill? 

Monstrous !  Stupendous  stock  of  impudence, 
even  in  a  half-drunk  m9untebank,  to  pretend,  that 
the  ruin  has  arisen  from  the  working  people !    It 


12  DEDICATION. 

has  been  established  for  fact,  that  a  hundred  and 
thirteen  of  your  brother  privy-councillors,  not  in- 
cluding bishops  or  royal  family,  swallow  up  six 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  founds  a  year  out  of 
the  taxes  ;  a  sum  equal  to  the  aggregate  amount  cf 
the  poor-rates  of  Bedfordshire,  Berkshire,  Buck* 
inghamshire,  Huntingdonshire,  Cumberland,  Mon 
niouthshire,  Rutlandshire,  Westmpreland,  and  an- 
other county  or  two  into  the  bargain !  Yet  this  is 
nothing  ;  this  is  no  swallowing  up  !  We  vote  every 
year  a  sum  of  money  to  be  sent  to  Hanover,  to  be 
given  to  half-pay  officers  and  their  widows  and  chil- 
dren there,  equal  to  the  poor-rates  of  Cumberland 
and  Westmoreland  !  There  were  grants  to  avgment 
the  living's  of  the  clergy  in  England,  to  the  amount 
of  the  poor-rates  for  one  year  of  ten  counties  in 
England,  standing  the  first  on  the  alphabetical  list. 
We  have  just  voted,  to  b£  given  to  lords,  baronets, 
and  'squires,  to  induce  them  to  free  their  slaves  in 
the  West  Indies,  as  much  money  as  would  keep  the 
poor  of  England  and  Wales  for  five  years  ?  All 
these  are  not  "  swallowings  up,'^  I  suppose  ;  but  the 
working  people  know  that  they  are  sioaUowings  up; 
and  that  they  themselves  are  compelled  to  pay  the 
far  greater  part  of  these  sums  out  of  the  fruits  of 
their  labour. 

One's  blood  boils  at  the  bare  statement  of  these 
undeniable  facts.  But  this  is  not  doing  half  justice 
to  the  working  part  of  the  community.  The  amount 
of  the  poor-rates  ;  the  amount  of  what  the  poor  re- 
ceive in  case  of  necessity,  is  swelled  up  and  trum- 
peted about  all  over  the  kingdom.  The  atrocious 
lie  of  EIGHT  MILLIONS  is  as  current  in  Ireland, 
as  if  communicated  by  a  King's  proclamation.  But, 
while  this  atrocious  lie  is  .trumpeted  about,  great 
care  is  taken  not  to  say  a  word  about  what  the 


DEDICATION.  13 

working  people  pay !  Yet  how  large  a  part  of  the 
fifty-two  millions,  how  very  large  a  part,  do  they 
pay,  out  of  the  fruit  of  their  labour !  Their  drink, 
raised  by  their  own  hands  in  their  own  country, 
pays  a  tax  of  two  hundred  per  cent.,  while  the 
drink  of  the  rich,  produced  in  other  countries,  pays 
a  tax  of  only  twenty-one  per  cent. !  The  malt-tax 
alone,  to  say  nothing  of  the  hop-tax,  costs,  incju- 
ding  the  monopoly  arising  out  of  the  tax,  not  less 
than  twelve  millions  a-year,  falling  upon  the  shoul- 
ders of  the  working  people  alone,  and  on  those  ot 
tradesmen  and  farmers.  A  drunken  mountebank 
would  have  them  use  "  COARSER  FOOD,"  and, 
perhaps,  drink  water.  I  know  one  mountebank, 
well  loaded  with  public  money,  who  says  that  beer 
is  "  a  luxury,  and  not  a  necessary  of  life."  This 
queer  mountebank  seems  to  forget,  that,  if  there 
were  no  beer,  there  could  be  no  malt-tax,  and  that 
then  there  would  be  nothing  to  pay  his  pensions 
and  his  jobbings  with  !  The  working  people  pay 
the  far  greater  part  of  the  taxes  out  of  their  wages, 
and  the  beastly  Malthusian  philosophers  would  take 
away  the  wages,  and  yet  have  the  taxes  1  Ah,  sir  ! 
it  is  a  puzzler  !  It  really  does  seem  as  if  the  ex- 
punging of  my  RESOLUTIONS  against  you  was  not 
the  last  piece  of  expunging  which  we  were  destined 
tof)ehold. 

So  much,  sir,  for  the  swallowing  up  of  estates  by 
the  poor-rates.  But,  the  minister  told  us,  and  so 
told  us  my  Lord  Radnor,  that  the  bill  M^as  wanted 
to  relieve  the  farmer,  and  that  the  farmers  and 
tradesmen  were  very  anxious  to  have  the  hill  pass- 
ed !  It  is  very  curious  that  none  of  these  petitioned 
for  the  bill,  while,  as  you  well  know,  thousands  of 
them  petitioned  against  it.  This  is  curious  enough, 
to  begin  with.  But,  if  we  had  had  time  given  us 
B 


14  DEDICATION. 

before  we  had  passed   the  bill  in   our  house,  we^ 
should  have  found  evidence  of  the  following  facts  :  ▼ 

1.  That  the  poor-law  commissioners  sent  a  cir- 
cular into  all  the  counties  of  England  and 
"Wales,  addressed  to.  lords,  baronets,  'squires, 
parsons,  overseers,  and  great  farmers,  whom 
they  selected,  as  persons   likely  to  suit  their 

«    purpose. 

2.  That  this  circular  contained  the  following  two 
questions :  first,  "  Has  agricultural  capital 
increased,  or  diminished,  in  your  neighbour- 
hood ?"  Second,  "  Do  you  attribute  such  in- 
crease or  diminution  to  any  cause  connected 
with  the  poor-laws,  or  their  mal-administra- 
tion  ?" 

3.  That  these  questions  were  addressed  to  1717 
persons  ;  and  that  out  of  these,  there  were  only 
SEVEN  who  did  not  say,  that  the  agricultural 
capital  had  diminished, 

4.  But  that,  out  of  the  1717,  four  hundred  and 
one  said,  that  the  cause  was  not  at  all  con- 
nected with  the  poor  laws,  or  the  administra- 
tion of  them,  eleven  hundred  and  twenty-nine 
assigned  other  causes,  wholly  unconnected 
with  the  poor-laws,  for  the  decrease  of  agri- 
cultural capital,  while  only  a  hundred  and  fif- 
ty-nine, out  of  the  1717,  had  the  hardihood  to 
say,  that  the  poor-laws,  or  their  administration, 
had  been  the  cause  of  the  decrease ;  and,  even 
of  these  hundred  and  fifty-nine,  fourteen  were 
anonymous,  and  one  wasMAjENDiE,  the  poor- 
law-runner  ;  and  one  of  the  anonymous  was 
certified  to  be  good  by  Blomfield,  Bishop  of 
London,  one  of  the  poor-law  commissioners  ; 
and  further,  that,  amongst  the  seventeen- hun- 
dred and  ten  who  said  that  the  agricultural  ca- 


DEDICATION.  15 

pital  had  decreased,  but  that  the  decrease  was 
not  at  all  to  be  ascribed  to  the  poor-laws  or 
their  administration,  was  my  Lord  Radnor 
himself ;  though  this  very  lord  supported  this 
bill  on  the  ground  that  it  was  wanted  to  relieve 
the  former. 

5.  That  a  great  number  of  the  persons  who  an- 
swered these  questions,  particularly  farmers, 
said  that  the  poor-rates  were  no  burden  to  the 
former ;  for  that,  if  they  did  not  pay  the  mo- 
ney in  rates  to  the  poor,  they  must  .pay  the 
same  amount  in  additional  rents  to  the  land- 
lord. 

6.  That,  from  the  parish  of  Broadway,  in  Wor- 
cestershire, the  enlightened  Bishops  of  London 
and  Chester,  and  those  paragons  of  light, 
Sturges  Bourne,  Senior,  Coulston,  and 
Bishop,  and  penny-a-line  Chadwick  ;  from 
the  parish  of  Broadway,  in  Worcestershire, 
these  men  got  the  following  answer  :  '*  Agri- 
cultural capital  is  diminishing ;  but  not  on 
account  of  the  poor-laws,  which  rather  tend  to 
keep  capital  in  the  parish;  but  because  the 
great  landowners  spend  less  in  the  parish,  by 
carrying  the  great  bulk  of  their  incomes  annu- 
ally to  London,  where  it  accumulates  in  the 
hands  of  usurers,  stock-jobbers,  and  the  like, 
and  consequently  does  not  return  to  the  pa- 
rish." 

Now,  sir,  how  came  we,  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, to  pass  the  bill  with  this  evidence  even  of 
these  poor-law-fellows  before  us  ?  Was  it  not  a 
shame  for  us  to  read  this  bill  a  second  time,  having 
this  evidence  before  us?  It  is  but  justice  to  those 
who  supported  this  bill  to  put  upon  record  the  fact ; 
that  the  bill  had  gone  through  the  committee,  he- 


16  DEDICATION. 

fore  the  whole  of  this  evidence  was  delivered  to  any 
of  us !  The  majority  of  the  House  were  committed 
by  their  votes  long  before  they  could  possibly  see 
this  evidence !  And  let  my  Lord  Althorp,  who  is 
now  a  peer,  take  into  his  hands  all  the  credit  due 
to  this  transaction,  and  parcel  it  out  in  due  propor- 
tions amongst  himself  and  his  colleagues. 

Thus  far  we  discover  no  real  ground  for  the 
passing  of  this  bill.  We  see  that  the  amount  of 
the  poor  rates  could  not  possibly  be  believed  to  be 
calculated  to  swallow  up  the  estates ;  we  see  that, 
if  the  workhouse  dress,  and  separating  of  husband 
from  wife,  and  children  from  parents ;  we  see  that 
this  Parson  Lowe  system,  so  highly  eulogized  by 
Lord  Radnor,  though  a  man  had  been  condemned 
to  death  at  Nottingham,  for  having  fired  Parson 
Lowe's  stacks  in  revenge  for  being  compelled  to 
submit  to  his  system  ;  we  see  that  even  the  com- 
plete success  of  this  system,  which  Cowell,  the 
poor-law  runner,  tells  us  that  this  "  excellent  cler- 
gym.an''^  adopted  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  "  the 
obtaining  of  relief  as  irksome  as  possible  ;"  we  see, 
that  even  this  horrible  system,  though  it  should  be 
attended  with  complete  success,  could  not  have 
"  spared  the  estates''''  to  a  greater  amount  than  about 
four  millions  a  year.  We  see  that  the  farmers 
shuddered  at  the  thought  of  the  new  poor-law  pro- 
ject, which  they  all  said  could  do  them  no  good  : 
and  the  petitions  told  us  that  the  great  towns  held 
it  in  abhorrence.  We  see,  then,  that  the  ground, 
the  alleged  ground,  for  the  passing  of  this  bill, 
could  not  be  the  real  ground;  or,  if  it  were,  that 
it  was  the  fruit  of  foolishness  ;  pure  fool-like  med- 
dling and  projecting. 

To  the  Searcher  of  hearts  only  can  men's  mo- 
tives be  known,  except  by  confession,  or  by  colla- 


DEDICATION.  17 

teral  or  circumstantial  evidence.  I  will,  therefore, 
not  attempt  to  assert  what  were  the  motives  of  the 
projectors  and  pushers-on  of  this  bill  ;  or  the  mo- 
tives from  which  it  was  supported  by  the  Duke  of 
Wellington,  by  Lord  Radnor,  by  you,  and  other 
great  landlords.  I  should  not  think  it  just  to  im- 
pute motives  which  I  cannot  substantiate  by  proof. 
I  will  say,  therefore,  nothing  about  the  motives  to 
the  projecting  and  pushing  on  of  this  measure  ;  but 
I  will  say  plenty  about  the  natural  and  inevitable 
tendency  of  the  measure  ;  first,  however,  stating  a 
circumstance  to  the  truth  of  which  there  is  a  whole 
Hou^e  of  Common's  full  of  witnesses,  and  which  is 
as  follows  : 

1.  That,  during  my  opposition  to  the  bill,  I  po- 
sitively asserted,  that  printed  instructions  were 
given  to  the  barrister  who  drew  the  bill ;  that 
these  instructions  told  him  that  it  was  intended 
to  erect  about  two  hundred  workhouses  for 
the  whole  of  England  and  Wales  ;  that  they 
also  told  him,  that  one  thing  desirable  to  be 
accomplished  was,  to  bring  the  people  of  Eng- 
land to  live  upon  a  coarser  sort  of  diet. 

2.  That  I  moved  for  the  laying  of  these  instruc- 
tions upon  the  table  of  the  House  ;  and  that 
the  minister  and  his  majority  rejected  the  mo- 
tion. 

3.  That  neither  Lord  Althorp,  nor  any  other 
man  in  the  House,  said  one  single  word  in  con- 
tradiction to  my  statement. 

A  change  of  circumstances  now  enable  me  to  say, 

that  I  had  SEEN  the  instructions. 

Now,  then,  as  to  the  tendency  of  the  bill,  if  it 

were  put  into  execution  ;  in  the  first  place,  it  gives 

the  landlords,  and  especially  the  great  landlords,  all 

the  real  power   in    every  vestry  in  the  kingdom. 

B2 


18  DEDICATION. 

The  bill  continues  that  Act  of  Sturges  Bourne, 
which  destroyed  the  old  English  law;  that  law 
which  gave  one  vote  and  no  more  in  the  vestry  to 
every  rate  payer.  It  retains  this  Act  of  Sturges 
Bourne,  which  gave  one  vote  for  every  fifty  pound 
rate,  as  far  as  six  votes  to  some  men,  while  others 
had  only  one.  The  new  bill  retains  this  Act;  and, 
then,  in  the  case  of  a  farm  of  300/.  a  year,  for  in- 
stance, it  gives  only  one  vote  to  the  tenant,  and  six 
votes  to  the  landlord  ;  and  then  it  authorizes  the 
landlord  to  vote  by  proxy;  that  is,  to  send  his 
agent,  or  attorney,  or  footman,  or  groom,  or  shoe- 
black, or  scullion,  to  vote  for  him,  while  he  himself 
keeps  out  of  sight,  and  is,  perhaps,  spending  his 
rents  in  France  or  Italy.  Devil  take  the  farmers 
for  stupid  dolts,  if  my  Lord  Radnor  does  not  make 
them  perceive,  that  this  bill  was  intended  for 
THEIR  benefit !  They  must,  indeed,  be  of  the 
earth,  earthy,  if  they  do  not  see  that  my  Lord  Rad- 
nor and  his  Scotch  friend  ;  his  "  old  friend  and 
fellow-labourer,^^  as  the  gentleman  of  the  Bird's 
Nest  called  himself;  doltish  devils,  indeed  ;  dull 
as  the  clods  of  their  own  fields  :  sappy  as  the  "  rank 
weed  that  rots  on  Lethe's  wharf,"  not  to  perceive 
that  this  bill  was  intended  to  enhance  THEIR  in- 
terest and  respectability  I 

Well,  sir,  let  us  leave  these  stupid  fellows  then, 
whom  my  Lord  Radnor  wished  to  benefit,  by  ta- 
king the  collection  and  distribution  of  their  money 
out  of  their  own  hands,  and  giving  them  to  the 
landlords  themselves,  (kind  gentlemen  I)  in  con- 
junction with  Frankland  Lewis,  Lefevre,  Ni- 
CHOLL,  with  penny-a-line-CHADwicK  for  their  se- 
cretary, and  with  a  Mr.  A'Court,  a  colonel,  and 
a  relation  of  Lord  Radnor,  for  a  runner.  Let 
tis  leave  the  stupid  farmers,  who  have  not  the  brains 


DEDICATION.  19 

to  set  a  right  value  upon  this  act  of  "  paternal 
kindness  ;"  and  let  you  and  I,  sir,  take  a  look  at 
the  natural  and  inevitable  tendency  of  this  bill. 

It  authorizes  the  commissioners,  Frankland 
Lewis  and  Co.,  to  order  parishes  to  be  united  to  a 
great  extent ;  to  cause  great  thundering  workhouses 
to  be  erected  ;  to  command  relief  to  be  refused  to 
all  persons,  except  on  condition  of  coming  into  the 
workhouses  ;  it  takes  away  the  power  of  the  over- 
seer and  of  the  magistrate  to  give  relief,  without 
the  sanction  of  two-thousand-a-year  Lewis  and  Co. 
communicated  to  the  parties,  doubtless,  by  penny- 
a-line  Chadwick,  the  secretary  ;  it  sets  no  bounds 
to  the  power  of  these  commissioners  with  regard 
to  the  refusing  of  relief;  it  empowers  them,  if  they 
choose,  to  enforce  most  rigorously  the  system  of 
Parson  Lowe,  of  the  parish  of  Bingham,  in  Not- 
tinghamshire ;  that  is  to  say,  if  a  man  with  a  fami- 
ly, should  break  his  leg,  or  should  be  unable  to  find 
work,  to  make  him  come  into  the  workhouse,  which 
may  then  be  at  forty  or  fifty  miles  from  his  home  ; 
there  to  have  his  own  clothes  stripped  off,  and  a 
workhouse  dress  put  upon  him  ;  and  to  cause  his 
wife  and  children  to  be  treated  in  the  same  manner; 
to  separate  man  and  wife  completely,  day  and 
night,  and  never  let  them  see  one  another  ;  to  se- 
parate the  children  from  the  parents,  and  never  let 
them  see  one  another  ;  to  suffer  no  friend,  no  rela- 
tion, to  come  to  speak  to  either,  though  upon  their 
dying  beds ;  there  being,  observe,  the  Dead  Body 
Bill  still  in  force,  which  was  supported  by  Lord 
Radnor  and  the  Bishop  of  London,  which  Bill 
will  authorize  the  keeper  of  the  workhouse,  who 
may  be  a  negro-driver  from  Jamaica,  or  even  a 
negro,  to  dispose  of  the  body  to  the  cutters-up, 
seeing  that  it  cannot  be  claimed  by  the  kindred  of 


30  DEDICATION. 

the  deceased,  they  not  being  allowed  to  come  into 
the  workhouse  ! 

All  this,  two-thousand-a-year  Lewis  and  his 
brace  of  associates,  and  penny-a-line  Chadwick, 
may  do,  if  they  like,  in  consequence  of  this  Act. 
But  will  they  do  it  ?  Will  the  ministers  turn  them 
out,  if  they  do  do  it  ?  Why  should  they  ?  In  the 
first  place,  in  the  reports  of  the  brace  of  Bishops 
and  their  colleagues,  this  system  of  Parson  Lowe 
is  eulogized  to  the  skies  ;  in  the  next  place,  this  re- 
port relative  to  Parson  Lowe  wa^s,  amongst  others, 
laid  before  Parliament  a  year  before,  in  order  to 
pave  the  way  for  the  introduction  of  this  bill. 
Then,  again.  Lord  Radnor,  in  urging  the  second 
reading  of  the  bill,  said,  that,  if  there  were  "  a  RE- 
VEREND Mr.  Lowe  in  every  parish  of  England, 
the  hill  would  he  unnecessary.'''' 

If  this  be  not  enough  to  convince  us,  that  those 
who  brought  in,  and  who  pushed  on,  and  who  ap- 
proved of,  this  bill,  would  applaud  the  commission- 
ers for  thus  acting  upon  Parson  Lowe's  system,  I 
know  not  what  would  be  enough.  However,  it  is  quite 
sufficient  for  me  to  know,  and  for  the  people  to  know, 
that  the  bill  empowers  Lewis  and  Co.  to  act  thus. 

One  of  Parson  Lowe's  objects,  as  related  to  us 
by  the  poor-law  runner,  Cowell,  was,  to  make  it 
so  irksome  and  painful  to  obtain  any  relief,  as  to 
prevent  people  from  applying  for  it,  though  on  the 
point  of  starvation  ;  certainly,  the  Parson  could  not 
have  adopted  means  more  efficient  than  those  I 
have  described,  and  which  are  merely  copied  from 
the  report  of  Cowell,  the  runner ;  and  the  parson 
got  a  man  from  a  distance  to  be  the  keeper  of  his 
house  ;  a  man  unacquainted  with  the  parish  ;  and 
penny-a-line  Chadwick,  in  his  runner's  report, 
strongly  recommends  the  getting  of  strangers  to 


DEDICATION.  21 

be  keepers;  firm  men,  NOT  TO  BE  MOVED  BY 
DISTRESS,  WHETHER  FEIGNED  OR  REAL ! 
....  Are  we  in  England  ?  or  are  we  in  hell,  while 
we  are  reading  this  !  ....  At  any  rate,  wherever  we 
are,  it  is  very  certain,  that  DEATH  will  be  pre- 
ferred, at  any  time,  to  the  receiving  of  relief  on  con- 
ditions like  these  ;  and,  the  risk  of  death.  Parson 
Lowe  has  experienced,  will  be  preferred  to  the  re- 
ceiving of  relief  on  such  conditions  ;  for,  only  about 
seventy-five  days  before  Lord  Radnor  was  regret- 
ting- that  there  was  not  "  a  REVEREND  Parson 
Lowe  in  every  parish  of  England,"  the  parson's 
own  corn  stacks  had  been  fired  by  a  man,  to  whom 
these  conditions  had  been  tendered  as  the  price  of 
relief!  This  was  a  single  man,  too,  and  a  man  of 
excellent  character  ;  and  he  openly  avowed  that  he 
set  the  fire,  and  that  he  wished  the  parson  and  his 
hired  overseer  had  been  in  the  middle  of  the  burn- 
ing stack,  because  he  refused  him  relief  without 
submitting  to  these  conditions,  which  Lord  Rad- 
nor regretted  "  were  not  established  in  every 
parish  in  England." 

The  inevitable  efiect  of  a  system  like  this,  suppo- 
sing it  to  produce  resistance  of  no  sort ;  of  which 
I  shall  not  speak.  I  shall  speak  of  the  Act  as  a 
thing  universally  submitted  to,  and  established 
throughout  England  and  Wales;  and  the  first  con- 
sequence inevitably  would  be,  that  nobody,  except 
poor,  wretched,  feeble-minded  as  well  as  feeble- 
bodied  souls,  would  ever  apply  for  relief.  Poor 
creatures,  who,  from  age,  from  infirmity,  from  mere 
childhood,  from  a  total  absence  of  every  feeling, 
except  merely  that  of  a  desire  not  to  die  ;  nobody 
else  would  ever  apply  for  parochial  relief;  and, 
still  proceeding  on  the  supposition  that  no  thought 
of  resistance  of  any  sort  would  be  entertained,  and 


23  DEDICATION. 

that  there  would  be  a  quiet  resignation  to  the  law, 
and  even  a  reverence  for  two-thousand-a-year 
Lewis,  and  penny-a-line  Chadw^ick  ;  proceeding 
upon  this  supposition,  what  would  be  the  next  con- 
sequence ?  Why,  there  being  no  parish  relief,  the 
labourers  would  be  compelled  to  receive  whatever 
wages  the  farmers  chose  to  give  them.  For  life 
is  precious  to  every  living  creature.  You  must  be 
right  hungry,  and  be  stripped  of  all  powers  of  re- 
sistance, or  of  helping  yourself,  before  you  know 
what  you  would  submit  to,  in  order  to  save  life. 
After  exhausting  all  the  resources  of  supplication  : 
after  wives  and  children  had  pleaded  in  vain  with 
streaming  eyes,  the  labouring  man  must  submit : 
the  farmer,  pressed  by  the  tax-gatherer,  pressed  by 
the  parson,  pressed  by  the  landlord  ;  a  jail-door 
opening  to  his  eyes,  would,  with  tears  in  those  eyes, 
screw  the  labourer  down,  in  a  short  time,  to  Irish 
wages. 

People,  whether  in  high  or  low  life,  bear  up 
against  sufferings  as  long  as  they  can,  and  especi- 
ally against  sufferings  from  hunger.  First,  nothing 
would  the  labourers  lay  out  for  clothes  ;  they  would 
collect,  as  they  do  in  Ireland,  cast  rags  just  to  keep 
them  from  perishing.  By  degrees,  all  would  be 
rags  ;  and  all  would  be  filth  ;  for  the  belly  must 
have  all,  and  soap  is  dearer  than  the  damned  po- 
tatoes. The  stockings  would  be  dispensed  with 
first ;  next  the  shoes  ;  for  the  bottoms  of  the  feet 
become  a  hoof  in  a  short  space  of  time.  Whatever 
shifts  and  smocks  there  might  be  in  existence,  when 
penny-a-line  Chadwick  should  begin  to  send  round 
the  mandates,  would  become  rags  without  seeing  a 
washing  tub.  As  to  the  head,  nature  has  furnished 
that  with  a  covering ;  and  a  good  mop  of  hair,  ne- 
ver combed,  and  well  stocked  with  vermin,  is  all 


DEDICATION.  33 

that  the  head  would  soon  have.  The  household 
goods  would  disappear,  bit  by  bit,  in  exchange  for 
potatoes  and  salt ;  and  as  to  lodging,  a  couple  of 
years  would  bring  the  far  greater  part  of  the  la- 
bourers, and  their  wives  and  children,  to  a  whisp 
of  dirty  straw.  An  iron  pot,  wherein  to  boil  the 
accursed  roots ;  a  wicker  basket,  or  the  head  of  an 
old  tub  sawed  off,  would  be  all  the  table  and  culi- 
nary utensils  ;  and,  with  a  pig  to  be  at  table  along 
with  the  rest,  to  be  pampered  more  than  the  child- 
ren, and  lodged  with  greater  care,  and  nursed  with 
greater  tenderness,  as  a  thing,  not  to  be  eaten,  but 
to  be  sold  to  pay  the  rent.  THIS  WOULD  BE 
THE  LOT  OF  AN  ENGLISH  LABOURER  AND 
HIS  FAMILY  ! 

And,  sir,  are  the  working  people  of  England  to 
be  brought  to  this  ?  Is  this  to  be  the  lot  of  those 
who  till  the  land,  work  the  looms,  and  fight  the  bat- 
tles, of  England  ?  Is  this  to  be  their  lot,  while  the 
drum  and  the  trumpet  at  the  head  of  troops  of  fat 
soldiers  and  fat  horses  ding  in  their  ears,  "  Oh  !  the 
roast  beef  of  Old  England !  Oh,  the  old  English 
roast  heefV^?  Let  us  turn  from  the  maddening  ima- 
ginary sight,  and  see  if  we  can  find  consolation  in 
the  fate  of  the  farmer ;  the  farmer,  whom  Lord 
Althorp  is  so  anxious  "  to  relieve,''^  and  who, 
Lord  Radnor  told  us,  was  so  anxious  for  the  pass- 
ing of  this  bill;  butwhomneitherof  them  would  trust 
with  the  management  of  his  own  mdfkey  !  Let  us 
see  how  this  system  would  operate  upon  him.  Oh ! 
marvellously  well  I  says  penny-a-line  Chadwick  ; 
for  the  saucy  labourers,  who  now  live  upon  such 
''luxurious  diet,"  and  have  such  ^^  strong  beer^^  fur- 
nished to  them,  and  who  take  away  ten  or  twelve 
shillings  a  week,  will  be  brought  to  live  on  a 
^^  coarser  sort  of  food  ;^^   and  will  take  from  the 


24  DEDICATION. 

farmer  only  from  four-pence  to  eight-pence  a  day ; 
and,  of  course,  agricultural  capital  would  increase  ! 
The  farmers,  by  the  operation  of  their  own  plain 
understandings,  have  seen  down  to  the  very  bottom 
of  this  matter,  in  spite  of  all  the  mud  and  all  the 
filth  messed  up  to  prevent  their  sight  from  penetra- 
ting down.  Plain  common  sense  has  told  them, 
that,  if  tithes  were  abolished,  they  must  add  to  their 
present  rents  the  amount  of  the  tithes,  and  more 
than  the  amount,  it  being  always  better  to  deal  with 
the  parson,  who  has  only  a  life  interest,  than  to  deal 
with  the  landlord  who  has  a  right  in  perpetuity,  and 
who  has  divers  additional  motives  to  any  that  the 
parson  has,  to  add  to  the  annual  revenue  of  the 
land.  If  the  poor-rates  were  abolished,  the  farmer 
knows  well,  that  the  amount  of  them  would  be 
added  to  his  rent,  and  more  than  the  amount ;  be- 
cause, besides  that  the  rent  would  be  taken  away 
out  of  the  parish,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  he,  in 
many  cases,  pays  the  rates  in  kind,  or  partly  in 
kind.  But,  the  great  consideration  is  this,  that 
farmers  have  kindred,  as  well  as  other  men.  Their 
kindred,  though  in  a  degree  not  making  it  legally 
incumbent  on  them  to  support  them  in  case  of  ne- 
cessity, may  stand  in  need  of  relief,  and  that  of  that 
relief  they  now  bear  no  more  than  their  due  share. 
For  instance,  a  brother,  or  a  brother's  widow  and 
children  (an^  nothing  is  so  frequent  as  this,)  may 
stand  in  need  of  relief,  much  greater  than  it  is  in 
the  power  of  a  farmer  to  give  without  ruin  to  his 
own  family  ;  and  be  he  the  best  and  kindest  brother 
that  ever  lived,  he  cannot  give  him  and  his  family 
efficient  relief,  and  keep  his  own  head  above  water. 
Abolish  the  poor-rates,  and  he  to  be  sure  is  not 
called  upon  with  others  to  afford  relief  to  his  bro- 
ther and  his  family :  the  law  is  silent  upon  the  sub- 


DEDICATION.  25 

ject;  but  nature  is  not;  and  he  goes  on  dividing  his 
loaf  and  his  garment  with  his  brother,  till  all  be- 
come beggars  together. 

Besides  this,  the  very  far  greater  part  of  farmers 
have  pretty  numerous  families  ;  they  know  that 
their  children  may  become  destitute  ;  and  they 
know,  by  the  sad  experience  given  them  in  con- 
sequence of  your  bill,  that  they  may  become  des- 
titute themselves.  When  I  went  to  Ely,  some 
years  ago,  in  order  to  see  the  very  spot  where  the 
English  Local  Militiamen  had  been  flogged  under  a 
guard  of  German  bayonets,  for  having  expressed 
my  indignation  ai  which,  Ellenborough,  Grose, 
Le  Blanc,  and  Bayley,  sentenced  me  to  be  impri- 
soned amongst  felons  in  Newgate  for  two  years,  to 
pay  a  fine  of  a  thousand  pound-s  to  the  king  at  the 
end  of  the  time,  to  be  held  in  bonds  of  five  thou- 
sand pounds  for  seven  years  after  that,  the  whole 
of  which  punishment  I  underwent,  having  besides, 
paid  twenty  guineas  a  week  for  a  hundred  and  four 
weeks  to  keep  myself  out  of  the  company  of  felons; 
for  all  which  I  have  been  doing  myself  justice  from 
that  day  to  this,  and  will  continue  to  do  it,  till  I 
shall  be  satisfied.  When  I  went  to  Ely  to  see  that 
spot,  in  the  year  1830,  I  saw  three  poor  men,  em- 
ployed by  the  parish,  cracking  stones  by  the  side 
of  the  ros».d ;  and  the  gentleman  who  was  with  me 
informed  me,  that  those  three  men  had  all  been 
farmers^  had  been  overseers  of  the  poor  them- 
selves, within  six  years  of  that  day,  and  had  been 
reduced  to  that  state  by  the  parlfament  having  pass- 
ed YOUR  BILL  !  In  the  reports  of  the  poor-law 
commissioners ;  those  very  reports  which  came 
from  Bishops  Blomfield  and  Sumner,  and  Stur- 
GEs  Bourne  and  Senior  and  Bishop  and  Coul- 
STON  and  penny-a-line  Chadwick  ;  in  those  very 
C 


^  DEDICATION. 

reports  it  is  stated,  that  an  overseer  of  the  parish  o' 
Charlbury  in  Oxfordshire,  informed  them,  that,ereri 
man  then  alive,  who  had  been  a  farmer  in  the  pa 
rish  thirty  years  before,  except  two,  was  now  on 
the  poor-hook !  What !  and  have  we  authorized 
penny-a-line  Chadwick  and  Frankland  Lewis 
and  the  other  felloAvs  to  send  these  men  to  a  big 
workhouse,  and  subject  them  to  Parson  Lowe's  dis- 
cipline, and  at  their  death  to  the  provisions  of  the 
Dead-Body  Bill !  We  have  ;  and  they  know  it  ; 
every  farmer  knows  that  such  may  be  his  lot. 

He  further  knows,  that,  as  a  mere  question  of 
money,  that  which  he  now  gives  in  wages  to  the  la- 
bourer, the  landlord  will  make  him  give  to  him ; 
that,  if  his  rent  be  now  a  hundred  a  year,  and  his 
wages  a  hundred,  he,  having  reduced  the  wages  to 
twenty  pounds  a  year,  the  landlord  will  make  him 
give  him  the  eighty  that  he  pinches  out  of  the  labour- 
ers ;  aye,  and  he  will  make  him  give  him  more  than 
that;  for,  the  parochial 'relief  being  gone,  every 
man  who  has  children,  and  especially  young  child- 
ren, will  see  starvation  and  death  staring  him  in 
the  face  ;  he  will  submit  to  any  terms,  rather  than 
be  ousted  from  his  farm.  The  praiseworthy  fash- 
ion of  lingering  upon  the  accursed  root,  and  of  be- 
ing wrapped  up  in  rags,  will  be  cited  against  him  as 
an  accusation  of  his  rolling  in  luxury  ;  by  degrees 
meat  will  be  as  completely  forbidden  him,  as  if  for- 
bidden by  law  :  the  curse  of  God  will  be  upon  him  : 
"  Thou  shalt  rear  flocks  and  herds ;  but  another 
shall  take  them  a^ay,  and  the  flesh  thereof  thou 
shalt  not  taste,  and  the  wool  thereof  shall  not  cover 
thy  body."  When  all  become  a  mass  of  ragged 
wretches,  if  one  will  not  submit  to  this,  another 
will ;  till  at  last  the  lot  of  Ireland  will  be  that  of 
England;  all  will  be  a  mass  of  poverty,  misery, 


DEDICATION.  27 

rags,  and  filth  ;  and  the  name  of  farmer^  for  so 
many  ages  signifying  a  husbandman  of  superior 
rank,  will  become  a  by-word  and  a  mockery. 

Such,  sir,  is  the  inevitable  tendency  of  this  bill, 
if  it  be  persevered  in;  and,  now,  I  think  I  have 
shown,  first,  that  the  grounds  whereon  it  was  pro- 
posed and  passed  were  stated  from  gross  ignorance; 
or  from  as  gross  insincerity.  But  I  now  have  to 
treat,  in  the  course  of  this  book,  of  the  question  of 
RIGHT  ;  of  the  RIGHT  to  do  this  thing,  even  sup- 
posing it  to  have  been  necessary  to  preserve  the  es- 
tates of  the  landlords.  I  have  shown  that  it  was 
not  at  all  necessary  for  that  purpose  ;  I  have  shown 
that,  unless  the  bill  come  at  the  WAGES,  it  can  do 
nothing  for  the  landlords.  A  farm  at  a  hundred  a 
year,  would  receive  an  addition  to  its  rent  of  only 
about  twenty  by  the  lopping-  off  of  the  poor-rates  ; 
but  let  the  landlord  take  the  wages,  too,  and  it 
more  than  doubles  the  rent  of  his  farm.  He  gains 
in  the  same  proportion  with  all  other  working  peo- 
ple, blacksmiths,  carpenters,  Avheelwrights,  brick- 
layers, and  even  shopkeepers.  The  wages  of  all 
these  amount  to,  perhaps,  a  hundred  millions  a 
year  :  to  get  at  the  half  or  two  thirds  of  this  sum 
was  worth  all  the  trouble  that  we  have  seen  taken. 
And,  again  I  say,  whatever  might  have  been  the  de- 
sign of  the  bill ;  however  generous  the  motive  of 
those  who  hatched  it,  pushed  it  on,  and  supported 
it,  I  have  here  stated  its  inevitable  tendency,  which 
is  described  in  one  short  sentence  :  to  take  from 

LABOUR  ITS  JUST  REWARD,  AND  TO  ADD  TO  THE  EN- 
JOYMENTS  OF    IDLENESS. 

And,  now,  sir,  the  ground  stated  for  the  adoption 
of  this  measure  being  this,  that  the  measure  is  ne- 
cessary to  prevent  the  estates  from  being  swallowed 
up  by  indigent  working  people,  I  am,  in  the  course 


28  DEDICATION. 

of  this  little  book,  about  to  inquire  into  the  nature 
of  THE  RIGHT,  which  those,  who  are  called  the 
landowners  of  England,  have  to  those  estates. 

Before,  however,  I  do  this,  I  think  it  right,  be- 
cause I  think  it  useful,  to  give  the  reasons  why  I 
address  this  little  book  to  YOU. 

In  the  early  part  of  1833,  I  published,  in  my  Re- 
gister, an  article  entitled,  "  Reckoning  Commis- 
sion." I  have  not  that  Register  at  hand  ;  but  I  re- 
collect, that  the  substance  of  the  article  was  as  fol- 
lows :  that  it  would  be  a  very  desirable  thing  to 
form  a  society  in  London,  to  be  called  the  "  Reck- 
oning Commission  ;"  that  this  society  should  ap- 
point a  secretary  to  correspond  with  some  one  or 
more  intelligent  person,  or  persons,  in  each  county, 
in  the  kingdom  ;  that,  through  such  means,  and  such 
like  means,  the  society  should  obtain  an  accurate 
knowledge  relative  to  all  the  considerable  landed 
estates  in  each  county,  ascertain  the  names  of  the 
several  proprietors,  the  probable  extent  and  rental 
of  each  estate,  the  time  when,  and  the  manner  how, 
it  came  into  the  hands  of  the  present  proprietor  ; 
and  to  ascertain  whether,  or  in  what  degree,  the 
possession  might  be  ascribed  to  the  present  pos- 
sessor, or  his  family  predecessors,  having  received 
sums  of  public  money,  whether  from  pension,  sine- 
cure, grant,  retired  allowance ;  or  under  the  name 
of  public  salary,  or  public  pay,  of  any  description. 

Bearing  this  description  of  the  article  in  mind, 
the  description  being  as  full  and  accurate  as  my 
memory  can  make  it,  let  me  now  advert  to  the  use 
which  you  were  pleased  to  make  of  it,  in  the  House 
of  Commons,  on  the  16  of  May,  1833,  when  I,  in 
discharge  of  my  duty,  proposed  to  the  House  a  re- 
solution, concluding  with  a  proposition  to  address 
the  king  to  remove  you  from  the  Privy  Council,  on 


DEDICATION.  39 

the  ground  that  you  had  been  the  proposer  of  the 
destructive  and  desolating  Act  of  1819.  It  was  not 
very  easy  for  common  mortals  to  perceive  the  con- 
nexion between  that  resolution  and  this  article  of 
mine  relating  to  the  Reckoning  Commission;  it 
was  extremely  difficult  to  perceive  how  this  propo- 
sition of  mine,  as  editor  of  a  paper,  could  be  twist- 
ed, into  an  argument  to  be  directly  and  solemnly 
addressed  to  the  House  of  Commons,  as  a  ground 
for  rejecting  a  proposition  for  placing  on  record  a 
censure  on  your  conduct  in  the  year  1819.  Never- 
theless, and  in  spite  of  the  strong  presumption 
which  this  furnished,  that  my  proposition  made  to 
the  House  was  unanswerable  by  you,  or  by  any 
body  else:  notwithstanding  this,  such  was  the  use 
which  you  made  of  my  Reckoning  Commission  ; 
and  that,  too,  amidst  a  noise,  which  I  will  not  call 
cheers,  it  having  resembled  the  roarings  of  mad- 
men, rather  than  any  thing  worthy  of  the  name  of 
marks  of  applause I  stop  here,  just  to  ob- 
serve, that  the  proceedings  of  that  evening  arose 
out  of  a  grand  mistake.  A  member  of  the  house 
told  rae,  that  he  heard  a  Tory  say  to  a  Whig : 
**  Damn  him  !  let  us  join,  and  crush  him  at 
once  .'"  to  which  the  Whig  cordially  assented  !  It 
was  a  grand  mistake.  I  laughed  at  all  the  crushing 
and  all  the  expunging  ;  knowing  well  that  only  a 
little  time  was  required  to  make  nine  tenths  of  the 
members  ashamed  of  the  follies  of  that  night. 

But,  sir,  it  was  the  exhortation  which  you  uttered 
apon  that  occasion,  which  I  thought  worth  remem- 
bering, and  which  I  very  faithfully  put  into  print 
the  next  day.  You,  assuming  that  it  was  my  deli- 
berate intention  to  set  on  foot  a  scheme  of  general 
confiscation,  called,  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  on 
men  of  property,  of  all  partjes,  to  join  to  crush 
C2 


30  DEDICATION. 

those  who  entertained  manifest  designs  on  proper 
ty  ;  thereby  meaning  me. 

Now,  sir,  therefore,  I  address  to  you  this  little 
book  on  the  subject  of  the  rights  of  property.  The 
poor-law  bill,  which  you  and  the  Duke  of  Wel- 
lington supported,  (you  with  your  vote,  and  he 
with  vote  and  speech,)  was,  as  we  have  seen  pro- 
posed, on  the  express  grounds,  that  it  was  necessa- 
ry to  preserve  the  lords^  estates  from  the  grasp  oj 
the  poor  people.  This  is  notorious  ;  and  it  is  nol 
less  notorious  that  the  far-famed  Brougham,  in  the 
way  of  illustration,  said,  that  if  this  bill  were  not 
passed,  he  himself  might  become  a  pauper  in  the 
county  of  Westmoreland ;  on  which  I  observe,  for 
the  second  time,  that  it  is  my  well-considered  opi- 
nion, that  his  chances  of  becoming  a  Westmoreland 
pauper  are  greater  with  the  bill,  than  without  the 
bill  !  I  have  proved  to  you,  that  the  bill  was  not 
necessary  to  preserve  any  body's  estate,  or  to  pre- 
serve rightful  property  of  any  sort,  in  the  hands  of 
any  body ;  but,  sir,  since  this  was  the  great  alleged 
ground  for  the  passing  of  this  bill,  I  think  it  proper 
to  inquire  into  the  right;  I  think  it  proper  to  ask 
WHAT  IS  THE  RIGHT,  that  lords,  barouets,  and 
'squires,  have  to  possess  the  lands,  and  to  make  the 
laws  ?  I  think  it  proper  to  state  this  question,  and 
to  answer  it ;  and  I  think  it  proper,  while  so  doing, 
to  address  myself  to  the  working  people  of  England, 
renowned  throughout  the  world,  for  their  matchless 
industry  and  matchless  skill,  in  useful  labour  of  all 
sorts  ;  but  now  represented  as  a  mass  of  "  lazy  and 
sturdy  vagabonds,"  wishing  to'  live  upon  the  pro- 
perty of  others. 

This  same  Brougham,  in  the  course  of  his 
speech,  eulogized  Parson  Malthus,  and  declared 
that  he  proceeded  upon  the  principles  of  that  man. 


DEDICATION.  31 

That  parson,  who  was  a  -pensioner  living  on  the 
sweat  of  the  people,  recommended,  that  no  man, 
who  should  marry  after  a  certain  day,  should,  after 
that  marriage,  receive  any  parochial  relief,  let  his 
state  of  want  be  what  it  might ;  that  his  wife  should 
be  subjected  to  the  same  fate ;  that  their  children 
should  also  be  subjected  to  that  fate  ;  that  they 
should  be  told  that  "  they  had  no  claim  upon  soci- 
ety for  the  smallest  portion  of  food,  even  to  sus- 
tain life." 

Others  have  claimed  and  exercised  what  they  call 
their  right  of  "  clearing  their  estates  ;^^  that  is  to 
say,  the  right  of  driving  the  people  out  of  the  coun- 
try, on  pain  of  death  from  hunger  and  cold.  Cor- 
responding with  this  asserted  right,  is  the  right  of 
the  mass  of  landlords  to  ground  the  right  operating 
at  elections  on  the  possession  or  occupation  of  real 
property,  and  their  right  to  exclude  from  voting  all 
persons  not  possessing  or  occupying  such  property. 
And,  above  all  other  things,  the  POOR-LAW 
BILL  has  been  founded  on  these  assumed  rights  of 
property.  It  is  this  poor-law  bill  that  throws  down 
the  gauntlet  to  us ;  and  base  is  the  Englishman 
who  has  the  power  to  take  it  up,  and  who  lets  it  lie 
quietly  on  the  ground.  I  have  the  power  to  take 
it  up  ;  I  do  take  it  up  ;  and  this  little  book  is  the 
result  of  my  resolution  to  do  it.  Be  pleased  to 
bear  in  mind,  that,  whatever  may  be  the  effect  of 
this  book,  the, writing  of  it  is  not  a  thing  of  my 
seeking.  The  laws  of  God,  as  to  this  matter,  and 
the  law  of  the  land,  have  not  been  unknown  to  me 
for  a  great  many  years  ;  but,  notwithstanding  your 
invectives  against  me,  as  "  an  enemy  of  all  pro- 
perty,'''' I  have  forborne  to  touch  upon  a  subject, 
which  I  did  not  wish  to  see  agitated.  So  long  as 
there  was  hope  of  obtaining  substantial  justice  for 


32  DEDICATION. 

the  working  people,  without  moving  in  the  matter; 
so  long  as  the  legal  provision  for  the  poor  remained 
unshaken  in  substance,  I  was  disposed  to  forbear, 
hoping,  particularly,  that  a  "  reformed  parlia- 
ment'' by  relieving  the  whole  of  us  from  the  heavy 
burdens  of  taxation,  would  have  effectually  pre- 
vented any  thing  being  done  by  any  body,  founded 
on  the  execrable  principles  of  the  pensioned  and 
hard-hearted  Malthus.  Now  it  would  be  the  ex- 
treme of  baseness  on  my  part,  to  forbear  any  lon- 
ger. Malthus's  crew,  with  Brougham  at  their 
head,  are  calling,  incessantly,  for  "  COARSER 
FOOD"  for  the  labourer  ;  for  separating  him  from 
his  wife,  and  both  from  children,  and  for  putting 
dresses  of  disgrace  on  all  of  them,  if  they  happen 
to  be  poor  and  destitute  :  they  are  doing  this  upon 
the  express  ground,  that  it  is  necessary  to  preserve 
the  estates  of  the  landlords ;  and  therefore  it  is, 
that  I  inquire,  what  is  the  right  which  these  land- 
lords have  to  those  estates  ?  And  I  address  myself 
to  the  working  people  of  England,  because  they  are 
the  parties  in  whose  behalf  I  take  up  the  gauntlet. 
I  put  it  in  a  form,  and  give  it  a  size,  and  bind  it 
in  a  manner,  and  sell  it  at  a  price,  such  as  may  cause 
it  to  be  most  extensively  read,  most  easily  pre 
served,  and  most  conveniently  referred  to  ;  and,  I 
call  it  a  LEGACY,  because  I  am  sure,  that,  not 
only  long  after  I  shall  be  laid  under  the  turf;  but 
after  you  shall  be  laid  there  also,  this  little  book 
will  be  an  inmate  of  the  cottages  of  England,  and 
will  remind  the  working  people,  whenever  they 
shall  read  it,  or  see  it,  or  hear  of  it,  that  they  once 
had  a  friend,  whom  neither  the  love  of  gain,  on  the 
one  hand,  nor  the  fear  of  loss,  on  the  other,  could 
seduce  from  his  duty  towards  God,  towards  his 
country,  and  towards  them  ;  will  remind  that  friend 


DEDICATION,  33 

was  born  in  a  cottage  and  bred  to  the  plough  ;  that 
men  in  mighty  power  were  thirty-four  years  endea- 
vouring to  destroy  him  ;  that,  in  spite  of  this,  he 
became  a  Member  of  Parliament,  freely  chosen  by 
the  sensible,  and  virtuous,  and  spirited  people  of 
Oldham  ;  and  that  his  name  was 

Wm.  cobbett. 


LETTER  I. 

how  came  some  men  to  have  a  greater  right 
to  parcels  of  land  than  any  other  men 
have  to  the  same  land? 

My  Friends, 

When  God  made  the  earth,  he  made  man,  and 
gave  him  dominion  over  the  earth.  "  So  God  cre- 
ated man  in  his  own  image,  in  the  image  of  God 
created  he  him ;  male  and  female  created  he  them. 
And  God  blessed  them :  and  God  said  unto  them, 
Be  fruitful,  and  multiply,  and  replenish  the  earth, 
and  subdue  it,  and  have  dominion  over  it,  and  over 
the  fish  of  the  sea  and  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  over 
every  living  thing  that  moveth  upon  the  earth." 
Gen.  c.  1.  V.  27,  28. 

This  is  the  only  true  foundation  of  man's  rightful 
ownership  of,  and  command  over  things,  other  than 
his  own  body.  The  earth,  the  waters,  the  air,  and 
all  that  in  them  were,  were  the  common  and  gene- 
ral property  of  all  mankind ;  and,  as  to  any  parti- 
cular spot  of  earth,  piece  of  water,  or  tree,  or  other 
vegetable,  or  living  creature,  one  man  could  have 
no  more  claim  to  any  of  them  than  any  other  man 
had.  But  when  hunger,  cold,  or  any  other  cause, 
made  it  necessary  to  some  men  to  do  something  to 
any  part  of  the  creation,  in  order  to  make  it  more 
useful  to  him,  that  thing  began  to  be  more  his  pro- 
perty than  the  property  of  other  men  ;  and,  indeed, 
it  would  have  been  against  natural  justice  to  insist 
upon  coming  and  sharing  with  him,  and  still  worse 
wholly  to  take  from  him  the  fruits  of  his  labour 


36  LETTER    I. 

If,  for  instance,  a  man  broke  up  and  sowed  a  piece 
of  ground,  having  first  gathered  the  wild  seeds  for 
the  purpose,  it  would  have  been  against  natural 
justice  to  take  the  crop  from  him.  Upon  this 
ground  it  was  that  Abraham  claimed  a  well  in  the 
country  of  Abimelech  ;  and  he  exacted  an  oath 
from  the  latter  to  testify,  "  that  he  had  digged  that 
well."  He  had  no  other  title  to  it,  and  pretended 
to  have  no  other:  his  right  of  property  he  founded 
solely  on  the  labour  performed  in  the  digging  of 
the  well.  Blackstone,  who  is  the  teacher  and  ex- 
pounder of  the  laws  of  England,  says,  (Book  II. 
chap.  1.,)  "  that  bodily  labour  bestowed  upon  any 
thing  which  before  laid  in  common  to  all  men,  is 
universally  allowed  to  give  the  fairest  and  most 
reasonable  title  to  an  exclusive  property  therein." 
He  says,  that  there  is  no  foundation  in  nature,  or 
in  natural  law,  why  a  set  of  words  on  parchment 
should  give  to  any  one  the  dominion  of  land. 

Thus,  then,  we  see  that  labour  must  have  been 
the  foundation  of  all  property.  Mr.  Tull,  who 
was  a  very  learned  lawyer,  as  well  as  the  greatest 
writer  on  agriculture  that  ever  lived,  claimed  an  ex- 
clusive right  to  the  produce  o{  his  book,  because  he 
had  written  it ;  because  it  was  something  proceed- 
ing from  the  labour  of  his  own  mind ;  and  thereupon 
he  says,  "  There  is  no  property  of  any  description, 
if  it  be  rightfully  held,  which  had  not  its  foundation 
in  labour,''^  And  it  must  have  been  thus,  because 
men  never  could  have  been  so  foolish,  and  so  lost 
to  all  sense  of  self-preservation,  as  to  suffer  a  few 
persons,  comparatively,  to  take  possession  of  the 
whole  earth,  which  God  had  given  to  all  of  them  as 
a  common  possession,  unless  these  comparatively 
few  persons  had  first  performed,  or  their  progeni- 
tors had  performed,  some  labour  upon  their  several 


LETTER  I.  37 

spots  of  earth,  the  like  of  which  labour,  or  a  part 
of  which  labour,  had  not  been  performed  by  men  in 
general. 

When  the  earth  came  to  be  more  peopled  than  it 
\vas  for  a  long  time,  the  common  benefit  of  all  de- 
i.ianded  that  some  agreement  should  be  entered  into, 
which  would  secure  to  the  possessors  of  particular 
parcels  of  land  the  exclusive  possession  and  enjoy- 
ment of  them  and  of  their  fruits  ;  and  that  there 
should  be  laws  to  protect  them  in  that  enjoyment. 
When  this  state  of  things  came,  it  was  called  civil 
society,  and  laws,  made  by  the  common  assent  of 
any  community  of  men,  came  to  supply  the  place  of 
the  law  of  nature.  These  laws  of  civil  society  re- 
strained individuals  from  following  in  certain  cases 
the  dictates  of  their  own  will ;  they  protected  the 
industrious  against  the  depredations  of  the  lazy; 
they  protected  the  innocent  weak  against  the  vio- 
lence of  the  unjust  strong ;  they  secured  men  in 
possession  of  land,  houses,  and  goods,  that  were  call- 
ed THEIRS.  The  words  "  MINE"  and  »  THINE," 
which  mean  my  own  and  thy  own.,  were  invented  to 
designate  what  we  now  call  a  property  in  things; 
ihe  meaning  of  the  word  ^^  property^^  being  this, 
that  the  thing  is  a  man's  own,  or  the  own  of  a  body 
of  men  ;  and  that  no  other  man,  or  body  of  men, 
have  any  right  to  partake  in  the  possession,  the 
use,  or  the  fruits  of  it.  The  law  necessarily  made 
it  criminal  in  one  man  to  take  away  or  injure  the 
property  of  another  man.  It  was  even  before  this 
law  of  civil  society,  a  crime  against  natural  justice, 
to  do  certain  things  against  our  neighbour :  to  kill 
him,  to  wound  him,  to  slander  him,  to  expose  him 
to  suffer  from  want  of  food,  or  raiment,  or  shelter. 
These  and  many  other  things  were  crimes  in  the 
eye  of  the  law  of  nature  ;  but,  to  take  a  share  of  a 
D 


38  LETTER  I. 

man's  victuals  or  clothing,  to  insist  upon  sharing  a 
part  of  the  good  things  that  he  might  happen  to 
have  in  his  possession,  could  be  no  crime,  because 
there  was  no  positive  property  in  any  thing,  except 
in  a  man's  body  iiself,  or,  at  most,  in  such  things 
as  he  had  in  his  immediate  possession  and  use,  or 
as  had  been  produced  by  his  labour  or  that  of  his 
children.  For  instance,  a  hare,  or  pheasant,  or 
deer,  that  he  had  caught;  beer  or  wine  that  he  had 
made;  raiment  that  he  had  made;  or  a  dwelling- 
place  that  he  had  built. 

But,  though  it  be  thus  quite  clear  that  labour, 
which  is  property  in  itself,  and  which  is  an  inherent 
and  indefeasible  property,  resting  not  on  parch- 
ments, or  on  any  human  laws  ;  though  it  is  quite 
clear  that  the  performance  of  labour  is  the  real  and 
only  legitimate  foundation  of  all  other  property, 
and,  though  there  is  no  other  foundation  that  wc 
cannot  trace  back  to  fraud  or  force,  still  we  are  not 
to  conclude  that  a  man  has  no  rightful  proprietor- 
ship in  any  moveable  or  perishable  thing  which  he 
has  not  made  with  his  own  hands,  or  that  he-  has 
collected  or  acquired  with  his  own  hands  ;  and  that 
he  has  no  rightful  property  in  any  land  which  he 
has  not  himself  broken  up,  subdued  (as  it  is  de- 
scribed in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,)  or  other- 
wise brought  into  a  state  of  productiveness.  To 
give  him  a  perfectly  legitimate  property  in  a  thing, 
it  is  not  at  all  necessary  that  he  should  have  per- 
formed labour  upon  it  himself,  or  that  his  children 
should  have  done  it ;  nor  was  it  ever  necessary, 
even  in  a  state  of  nature,  and  when  men  had  no 
other  guide  than  natural  justice. 

Timothy,  for  instance,  had  broken  up  a  piece  of 
ground,  and  by  the  use  of  his  labour  on  it  had  ac- 
quired a  rightful  exclusive  possession  ;  but  Timo- 


LETTER    I.  39 

THY  wanted  meat  to  eat  with  the  bread  that  he  rais- 
ed from  his  land  ;  and  Titus,  who  was  a  hunter, 
supplied  him  with  meat  to  a  certain  amount,  in  ex- 
change for  a  piece  of  his  land  ;  and  by  these  means, 
Titus  became  the  rightful  owner  or  proprietor  of 
a  part  of  this  land,  all  of  which  belonged  to  Timo- 
thy before.  There  was  no  law,  no  written  law, 
and  no  law  of  civil  society,  to  maintain  tiiese  rights; 
but  natural  justice  gave  the  right  to  Titus,  though 
he  had  performed  no  labour  on  the  land.  Under  this 
state  of  natural  law  or  natural  justice,  and  at  a  time 
when  there  was  no  such  thing  as  money,  one  man 
gave  another  man  shoes,  for  instance,  in  exchange 
for  corn,  or  in  exchange  for  any  other  thing  that  he 
might  want.  Every  thing  was  the  effect  of  labour, 
and,  as  in  the  above  case,  Timothy  and  Titus  ex- 
changed certain  quantities  of  their  labour,  one  for 
the  other. 

But  when,  in  process  of  time,  this  practice  of 
barter  became  too  cumbrous  and  troublesome, 
MONEY  was  invented,  as  a  measure  of  the  value  of 
things  ;  and  it  was  no  longer  so  much  wheat  for 
so  much  meat ;  but  so  much  money  for  so  much  of 
wheat,  or  of  meat,  or  of  anything  else.  The  law- 
yer acquires  money  from  the  fees  which  he  takes 
for  giving  his  advice  ;  the  physician  does  the  same. 
Both  have  acquired  their  skill  by  labour ;  by  labour 
of  the  mind,  indeed  ;  but  the  capacity  to  labour 
witli  the  mind  is  the  gift  of  God  as  completely  as 
is  the  capacity  to  labour  with  the  hands.  These 
professional  persons  labour,  not  upon  the  land,  but 
with  the  price  of  their  labour  they  purchase  land  ; 
and  hence  the  foundation  of  their  property  is  labour 
as  completely  as  if  they  had  first  broken  up  the 
earth,  subdued  it,  and  made  it  fruitful  by  the  labour 
of  their  bodies;  and  this  it  is  that  gives  them  a  greater 


4D  LETTER  II. 

right  to  the  possession  of  certain  parcels  of  land 
than  any  other  men  have  to  those  same  parcels  of 
land. 

And,  as  to  those  who  are  possessors  of  land  by 
inheritance  or  by  will.  That  which  a  man  is  the 
proprietor  of,  he  has  a  right  to  dispose  of  at  his 
death,  if  he  have  not  received  it  on  conditions  which 
prevent  him  from  disposing  of  it  as  he  pleases.  If 
a  man  could,  in  all  cases,  dispose  of  his  property 
beyond  his  life  in  just  what  manner  he  pleased,  he 
might  dispose  of  it,  as  Blackstone  observes,  for 
millions  of  years.  The  law  of  civil  society,  there- 
fore, steps  in  and  regulates  this  matter.  But  with 
this  we  have  nothing  to  do  at  present :  my  business. 
An  this  letter,  was  to  show  how  some  men  came  to 
have  a  greater  right  to  certain  parcels  of  land  than 
any  other  men  have  to  the  same  land  ;  and  I  have 
shown  that  this  right  is  founded  in  labour,  and  only 
in  labour. 


LETTER  II. 

what  right  have  english  landlords  to  their 
lands?  how  came  they  in  possession  of 
them  ?  of  what  nature  is  their  title  ? 

My  Friends, 

To  describe,  and,  indeed,  to  discover  the  real 
origin  of  the  property,  in  almost  any  particular 
estate  or  farm  in  England,  is  next  to  an  impossibi- 
lity. Indeed,  it  is  quite  impossible  even  to  guess 
at  who  first  broke  up  a  farm,  and  subdued  it,  and 
cultivated  it.  But,  there  is  another  origin  of  private 
property,  besides  that  spoken  of  in  Letter  I ;  name 


LETTER   II.  41 

\y.  the  origin,  or  right,  or  power,  of  conquest  ! 
The  lands  of  England,  long  after  civil  society  had 
existed  in  the  country,  were  conquered ;  and  were 
actually  taken  possession  of  by  the  conquerer,  as 
being  all  his  own  lands  ;  and  were  either  given  away 
by  him,  or  sold  by  him,  to  certain  persons  already 
in  the  country,  or  to  foreigners  who  came  over  with 
him  from  Normandy. 

Hence  lie  became  the  sole  proprietor  of  all  the 
lands  in  the  kingdom  of  England  and  Wales  ;  and 
his  successors  in  the  throne,  or  in  the  government 
of  the  commonwealth,  have  claimed  the  ownership 
throughout  England  and  ^yales,  and  also  through- 
out the  other  parts  of  their  dominions.  The  te- 
nures,  as  the  lawyers  call  them,  and  as  we  express 
it  in  tlie  English  word,  the  holdings,  were  various, 
and  are  various  unto  this  day  ;  but,  without  any  ex- 
ception whatsoever,  no  man  who  calls  himself  a 
landowner,  is  a  landowner  ;  but  is  merely  a  holder 
of  lands  under  the  king,  as  chief  of  the  common- 
wealth. 

And,  though  this  seems  strange,  it  must  always 
have  been  so  in  all  communities,  in  substance,  if 
not  in  form  ;  and  it  was  so  in  England  during  the 
time  that  the  government  was  a  republic  or  com- 
monwealth. To  enable  you  better  to  understand 
this  matter,  let  me  relate  to  you,  that,  when  the 
Norman  conqueror  made  a  distribution  of  the  lands, 
he  retained,  in  many  cases,  a  right  over  them,  and 
derived  profits  from  them,  as  a  sort  of  landlord  in 
chief  He  gave  some  of  the  lands  in  a  more  ample 
manner  than  others  ;  but  from  all  he  exacted  a  ser- 
vice^ or  tribute,  of^some  sort.  With  regard  to  cer- 
tain parts  of  them,  he  retained  the  right  of  taking 
great  sums  of  money  from  the  possessors  of  the 
estates,  under  various  pretences.  When  the  land- 
D2 


42  LETTER   II. 

holder  died,  he  demanded  a  year*s  rent  of  the  whole 
of  the  estate  from  the  heir,  if  the  heir  was  of  age  ; 
if  the  heir  was  under  a^e,  he  took  possession  of 
the  estate  until  he  became  of  age  ;  then  made  him 
marry  whom  he  pleased,  or  forbade  him  to  marry 
any  other  person,  or  made  him  pay  the  worth  of  a 
considerable  part  of  the  estate  for  disobeying  his  will. 

When  Cromwell  and  the  parliament  had  put 
Charles  the  First  to  death,  they  put  an  end  to 
these  exactions,  by  act  of  Parliament.  They  abo- 
lished them.  But  I  must  now  beg  your  attention, 
and  your  best  attention,  to  this  very  important  mat- 
ter ;  and  you  will  tind  that  the  change  was  by  nr 
means  favourable  to  the  people,  but  in  favour  of  thr 
aristocracy  of  the  kingdom,  and  against  the  people 

The  revenue  which  the  king  derived  from  thii 
source,  the  paying  of  the  sums  composing  whicl 
revenue  was  the  condition  on  which  the  estates  had 
been  given  by  him,  as  chief  of  the  commonwealth ; 
the  revenue  which  the  king  derived  from  this  source 
was,  together  with  certain  estates,  which  the  king 
had  always  kept  in  his  own  hands  ;  the  fund  out  oi 
which  he  defrayed  all  the  expenses  of  himself,  his 
household,  and  every  other  expense  of  army,  navy, 
and,  in  short,  all  the  expenses  attendant  on  the 
carrying  on  of  the  government,  and  in  defending 
the  country.  The  great  holders  of  estates  were, 
besides,  compelled  to  come  forth  in  arms,  and  with 
certain  of  their  tenants,  armed,  and  clad,  and  sup- 
ported by  them,  to  defend  the  kingr,  or  the  country-, 
whenever  it  might  be  necessary.  ^  Indeed,  this  mi' 
litary  service  ;  that  is  to  say.  for  the  several  estates 
to  be,  at  all  times,  liable  to  this  service,  was  the  con- 
dition  on  which  the  estates  were  held.  And,  though 
this  service  had  been  commuted  for  money,  still  the 
title  to  the  estates  was  inseparable  from  the  service. 


LETTER  II.  43 

either  in  kind  or  in  money  :  so  that  there  were  no 
taxes  laid  upon  the  people;  and,  you  Avill  agree 
with  me  that  it  was  perfectly  just,  that  those  who  had 
had  the  lands  of  the  country  given  to  them  for  no- 
thing at  all,  should  render  these  services  in  return 
for  so  great  a  boon  :  at  any  rate,  this  was  the  con- 
dition on  which  they  held  the  lands  ;  and  as  they 
could,  at  any  time,  give  them  up  to  the  king  or  com- 
monwealth, and  thereby  get  rid  of  the  services  due 
to  their  king  and  their  country  from  the  estates,  they 
had  no  reason  to  complain. 

When  King  Charles  the  First  had  been  put  to 
death,  and  Cromwell  and  his  associates  had  seized 
upon  the  powers  of  the  government,  there  was,  of 
course,  no  king,  to  receive  the  services  and  fines, 
and  other  parts  of  the  services  aforementioned  ;  but 
there  was  a  people;  and,  as  this  revenue  had  enabled 
the  king  to  carry  on  the  government  without  taxing 
the  people,  these  new  rulers  ought  to  have  taken 
care  that,  however  they  had  modified  the  manner 
of  receiving  the  revenue,  the  same  amount  of  re- 
venue ought  still  to  have  been  drawn  from  those 
estates.  This  was  dictated  by  common  justice  ;  but 
these  men  were  actuated  by  no  feelings  of  justice 
towards  the  people  ;  and  they  laid  the  foundation, 
in  this  very  instance,  of  the  most  grievous  of  the 
hardships  of  which  we,  even  unto  this  day,  have  to 
complain.  They  passed  an  act,  of  which  the  fol- 
lowing words  express  the  substance  :  "  That  the 
court  of  wards  and  liveries,  and  all  worships,  live- 
ries, prime  seisins,  and  ousterlemains,  values  and 
forfeitures  of  marriages,  by  reason  of  any  tenure 
of  the  king  or  others,  be  totally  taken  away.  And 
that  all  ^nes  for  alienations,  tenures  by  homage, 
knight's  service,  and  escuage,  and  also  aids  for 
marrj^'ng  the  daughter  or  knighting  the  son,  and 


44  LETTER  II. 

all  tenures  of  the  king  in  capite,  be  likewise  taken 
away.  And  that  all  sorts  of  tenures,  held  of  the 
king  or  others,  be  turned  into  free  and  common 
soccage  ;  save  only  tenures  in  frankalmoign,  copy- 
holds, and  the  honorary  services  (without  the  sla- 
vish part)  of  grand  sergeantry." 

The  vv  hole  of  the  acts  of  parliament  passed  from 
the  death  of  King  Charles  the  First  to  the  resto- 
ration of  his  son,  Charles  the  Second,  were  obli- 
terated, or  blotted  out,  from  thaStatute-Book,  upon 
that  restoration  taking  place.  The  above  act,  there- 
fore, bears  date  in  the  12th  year  of  the  reign  ol 
Charles  the  Second,  the  eleven  years  of  the  reign 
of  Cromwell  and  his  vile  associates  having  been 
reckoned  as  a  part  of  this  king's  reign  ;  and  this  act, 
which  was  a  revival  or  continuation  of  their  act, 
havinof  been  passed  in  the  first  year  of  his  real 
reign. 

But,  we  now  come  to  the  flagitious  part  of  the 
deeds  of  these  villains,  in  this  case.  Cromwell 
and  his  parliament  having  lopped  off  the  revenue  of 
the  crown,  having  relieved  the  landholders  from 
paying  to  the  chief  of  the  nation,  that  which  was 
justly  due  from  their  estates,  wanted  money  to  car 
ry  on  the  government,  and  to  put  into  their  own 
pockets.  And  whom  should  they  get  the  money 
from  ?  From  the  landholders  they  ought  to  have 
got  it ;  but  they  wrung  it  out  of  the  sweat  of  the 
people  ;  and  for  that  purpose  they  began  that  sys- 
tem of  EXCISE  LAWS,  which  has  been  the 
scourge  of  this  kingdom  from  that  day  to  this. 

The  people  detesied  it  from  the  very  outset :  it 
was  in  imitation  of  the  Dutch,  that  base  and  sordid 
nation.  Such  was  its  unpopularity  with  the  people 
of  England,  who  protesfed  against  it  as  an  illegal 
an*^  detestable  extortion,  that  the  vile  band  of  usurp- 


LETTER  II.  45 

ers,  then  called  the  House  of  Commons,  passed  a 
resolution  in  1642,  in  these  words:  "That  asper- 
sions having  been  cast  by  malignant  persons  upon 
the  House  of  Commons,  that  they  intended  to  in- 
troduce excises,  the  House,  for  its  vindication 
therein,  did  declare,  that  these  rumours  were  false 
and  scandalous  ;  and  that  their  authors  should  be 
apprehended  and  brought  to  condign  punishment." 
These  hypocrites,  however,  having,  the  next  year, 
gathered  troops  round  them  to  defend  them,  passed 
an  act  imposing  excise  on  beer,  cider,  and  perry; 
and  the  year  after  that,  on  flesh,  wine,  tobacco,  su- 
gar, and  such  a  multitude  of  other  commodities, 
that  it  might  fairly  be  denominated  general, 
Prymme,  one  of  the  most  cunning  of  the  villains, 
said  they  intended  to  go  further,  but  that  it  would 
be  necessary  to  use  the  people  to  it,  by  little  and 
little. 

When  Charles  the  Second  was  restored,  this 
detestable  tax  on  the  people  was  kept  on  by  an  act, 
passed  in  the  first  year  of  his  real  reign  ;  and  thus 
were  the  holders  of  estates  free  from  the  charges 
due  on  those  estates,  while  the  burden,  to  a  greater 
amount,  together  with  all  its  vexations  and  torments, 
was  laid  upon  the  people.  The  Excise  now  amounts 
to  seventeen  millions  a  year,  and  upwards  ;  and,  if 
we  reckon  the  cost  of  the  monopolies,  created  by 
the  tax,  this  horrible  species  of  taxation  costs  the 
people  thirty  millions  a  year !  This  is  never  to 
be  fororotten  when  we  are  talking,  as  we  are  in  the 
present  letter,  of  the  right  which  English  landlords 
have  to  their  lands.  And  of  what  nature  is  their 
title  to  those  lands  ?  I  call  not  in  question  their 
original  right;  I  call  not  in  question  the  right  of 
the  Conqueror  to  give  the  lands  ;  I  call  not  in  ques- 
ion  these  things  ;  but  I  know  that  these  proprietors 


46  LETTER  II. 

held  the  lands  on  certain  conditions  ;  that  those 
conditions  were,  that  they  should  contribute  large- 
ly, and  almost  solely,  to  the  maintenance  of  the 
kino-,  of  his  family,  to  the  support  of  his  dignity, 
and  of  all  his  officers  of  state,  and  to  the  defence  of 
the  kingdom;  and,  though  the  excise  was  continued 
by  an  act  of  parliament,  it  was  a  mere  repetition  of 
an  act  passed  by  rebels  and  usurpers.  1  call  not 
the  legality  of  this  act  of  parliament  in  question ; 
but,  while  I  thus  acquiesce  ;  while  I  thus  allow  the 
validity  of  this  last  mentioned  act  of  parliament, 
I  must  insist  upon  it,  that  it  was  no  more  than  other 
acts  of  parliament ;  and  that  it  can  be  as  legally  re- 
pealed, as  any  other  act  of  parliament  that  ever  was 
passed  ;  and  I  further  say,  that  it  ought  to  be  re- 
pealed ;  or  that,  at  any  rate,  the  holders  of  the 
landed  estates,  the  duties  and  services  of  which 
were  taken  off  by  that  act,  ought  to  be  called  upon 
to  pay,  out  of  the  rents  of  those  estates,  a  sum  equal 
in  amount  to  the  amount  of  the  duties  formerly  ren- 
dered ;  the  estates  still  being  the  same  in  extent, 
and  the  same  in  quality  ;  it  signifying  not  one  sin- 
gle straw  through  whose  hands  they  may  have 
passed  between  that  day  and  this,  and  it  being  of 
as  little  consequence  in  whose  hands  they  may  be 
now. 

Such,  then,  is  the  tenure,  or  holding,  of  the  lands 
in  England.  It  is  clear  work,  because  the  holding 
is  all  derived  from  one  source,  and  because  the  na- 
ture of  the  title  is  as  clear  as  it  is  in  the  power  of 
words  to  make  it. 

Having  now  seen  what  right  the  landlords  of 
Englmd  have  to  their  lands  ;  having  seen  how  they 
came  to  be  possessed  of  them  ;  having  seen  the  ori- 
gin of  their  title,  we  may  proceed  to  the  matters 
contained  in  the  next  letter. 


LETTER  III.  47 


LETTER  III. 

is  the  right  of  the  landlords  to  the  lands 
absolute  ?  is  the  land  their  own  now,  or, 
are  they  still  holders  under  a  superior  ? 

My  Friends, 

Though  the  power  of  the  king  to  practise  the 
heavy  exactions  on  the  estate-holders,  which  exac- 
tions were  mentioned  in  the  last  letter,  was  abolish- 
ed by  the  act  of  parliament  that  I  have  quoted,  still 
the  form  remained,  though  nearly  deprived  of  its 
substance  ;  and  the  lordship  of  the  king  over  the 
lands  is  still,  in  form  of  law,  what  it  always  was. 
There  are  various  sorts  of  under-holdings,  such  as 
leasehold,  lifehold,  copyhold,  freehold  ;  but,  what- 
ever else  there  be,  the  law  of  England  says,  that  no 
man  can  hold  lands  in  this  kingdom  in  absolute 
right ;  that  no  land  is  any  man's  OWN  land  (ex- 
cept that  of  the  king  himself;)  but  that  every  one 
who  calls  himself  the  owner  of  any  inch  of  land  in 
the  kingdom  is,  in  fact,  a  tenant  under  the  king,  as 
chief  of  the  commonwealth.  This  being  a  matter 
of  such  great  importance,  and  tending  to  lead  the 
minds  of  young  men  into  interesting  reasoning  on 
the  subject,  I  shall  cite  the  whole  passage  from 
Judge  Blackstone  (Book  II.  ch.  7,)  in  order  that 
you  may  be  sure  that  I  commit  no  mistake  in  a 
matter  of  such  weighty  concern. 

"The  word  allodium,  the  writers  9^  this  subject 
define  to  mean  every  man's  own  land,  w^hich  he 
possesseth  merely  in  his  own  right,  without  owing 
any  rent  or  service  to  any  superior.  This  is  pro- 
perty in  its  highest  degree  ;  and  the  owner  thereof 


48  LETTER    III. 

hath  dhr^olutiim  et  directum  dominium^  and  there- 
fore is  said  to  be  seised  thereof  absolutely  in  domi- 
nico  suo,  in  his  own  demesne.  But  feodum,  or  fee, 
is  that  which  is  held  of  some  superior,  on  condition 
of  rendering  him  service  ;  in  which  superior  the  ul- 
timate property  of  the  land  resides.  And,  there- 
fore. Sir  Henry  Spelman  defines  a  feud  or  fee  to 
he  the  riuht  which  the  vassal,  or  tenant,  hath  in 
lands  to  use  the  same,  and  take  the  profits  thereof 
to  him  and  his  heirs,  rendering  to  the  lord  his  due 
services  ;  the  m.ere  allodial  propriety  in  the  soil  al- 
ways remaining  in  the  lord.  This  allodial  property 
no  subject  in  England  has;  it  being  a  received,  and 
now  undeniable  principle  in  the  law,  that  all  the 
hinds  in  England  are  holden  mediately  or  immedi- 
ately of  the  king.  The  king,  therefore,  only  hath 
ahsolutum  et  directum  dominium,  but  all  subjects' 
lands  are  in  the  nature  o{  feodum,  or  fee  :  whether 
derived  to  them  by  descent  from  their  ancestors,  or 
purchased  for  a  valuable  consideration  :  for  they 
cannot  come  to  any  man  by  either  of  those  ways 
unless  accompanied  with  those  feudal  clogs,  which 
were  laid  upon  the  first  feudatory  when  it  was  ori- 
ginally granted.  A  subject,  therefore,  hath  only 
the  usufruct,  not  the  absolute  property  of  the  soil, 
or,  as  Sir  Edward  Coke  expresses  it,  he  hath  do- 
minium utile,  but  not  dominium  directum.  And 
hence  it  is  that  in  the  most  solemn  acts  of  law,  we 
express  the  strongest  and  highest  estate  that  any 
subject  can  have  by  these  words,  '  he  is  seised 
thereof  in  his  demesne,  as  of  fee.'  It  is  a  man's 
demesne,  damiinicum,  or  property,  since  it  belongs 
to  him  and  his  heirs  for  ever  :  yet  this  dominicum, 
property,  or  demesne,  is  strictly  not  absolute  or  al- 
lodial, but  qualified  or  feodal ;  it  is  his  demesne,  as 
cf  fee ;  that  is,  it  is  not  purely  and  simply  his  own, 


LETTER    III.  4d 

since  it  is  held  of  a  superior  lord,  in  whom  the  ulti- 
mate property  resides." 

We  have  seen  in  Letter  II.  that  the  king,  as  chief 
of  the  commonwealth,  was,  until  the  passing  of  the 
act  of  12th  Charles  the  Second,  the  real  and  active 
lord  of  a  great  part  of  the  estates.  He  has  now  not 
the  same  extensive  claim  upon  them. ;  but  you  see, 
that  he  is  still  the  lord  paramount  of  them  all  ;  and 
that  the  parliamiCnt  may,  at  any  time,  pass  an  act 
to  bring  him  back  to  the  right  of  his  former  revenue 
out  of  them.  This  is  a  great  tumble  down  for  the 
big-talking  landlords,  who  are,  in  fact,  nothing  but 
tenants  or  holders  under  the  chief  of  the  nation, 
which  chief  holds  his  authority,  sits  upon  the 
throne,  and  claims  a  right  to  sit  upon  the  throne, 
hy  an  act  of  parliament ;  which  act  of  parliament 
the  people  by  their  representatives  assisted  in 
passing. 

It  is  of  importance  here  to  explain  this  matter  ; 
because  as  here  is  a  superior  lord  over  all  the  land- 
lords, it  is  worth  the  while  of  those  landlords  to 
consider  how  this  superior  lord  comes  by  his  right 
to  be  placed  in  that  situation.  He  has  not  created 
the  lands  ;  he  is  not  the  lord  over  them  by  Divine 
rights  but  by  act  of  parliament.  He  has  a  right, 
in  law,  which  is  called  hereditary ;  that  is  to  say, 
our  present  king,  for  instance,  came  to  the  throne 
as  heir-at-law  of  George  the  Fourth,  who  held 
the  crown  from  his  father,  who  held  it  from  his 
grandfather,  who  held  it  from  his  father,  who  came 
to  it  by  virtue  of  an  act  of  parliament,  passed  in  the 
12th  and  13th  years  of  King  William  and  Queen 
Mary;  and,  in  explaining  to  you  how  this  act  of 
parliament  came  to  bo  passed,  I  shall  afford  you  the 
means  of  judging  11  what  degree  the  nation  has  to 
E 


50  LETTER    III. 

do  with  the  property  over  which  the  king  is  supe- 
rior lord. 

In  the  year  16S8,  King  James  the  Second  was 
king,  being  the  heir-at-law  of  his  brother,  King 
Charles  the  Second.  He  was  guilty  of  what  was 
alleged  to  be  an  endeavour  to  "  subvert  the  consti- 
tution:''''  whereupon  certain  of  his  subjects  went  to 
Holland  and  invited  the  Prince  of  Orange  to  come 
over  with  an  army  against  King  James,  who,  find- 
ing himself  deserted  on  every  side,  fled  out  of  the 
country.  Upon  this,  some  lords  and  gentlemen, 
and  the  lord  mayor,  aldermen,  and  common  coun- 
cil of  London,  met  in  the  houses  that  were  burnt 
down  the  other  day,  or  in  one  of  them  ;  and  there, 
without  a  king,  and  without  having  been  called  to- 
gether by  any  king,  calling  themselves  a  conven- 
tion^ issued  what  they  called  an  act,  appointing 
William,  the  Prince  of  Orange,  and  his  wife, 
Mary  (the  said  William  being  a.  foreigner,)  to  be 
King  and  Queen  of  England  ;  and  king  and  queen 
of  England  they  became  directly  afterwards. 

It  was  then  enacted  by  the  parliament,  that  the 
heirs  of  the  body  of  this  William  and  Mary  should 
succeed  to  the  crown :  if  they  had  no  heirs,  it  was 
enacted,  that  the  Princess  Anne,  who  was  a  younger 
daughter  of  King  James,  should  succeed  to  the 
crown  ;  and  if  she  had  no  heirs,  it  was  enacted, 
that  the  crown  should  go  to  the  family  of  Hanover, 
who  were  all  foreigners.  To  that  family  it  did  go, 
and  King  George  the  First  came  over  and  reigned 
as  the  first  king  of  that  family. 

Now,  observe,  all  this  took  place  while  James 
the  Second  had  a  son^  who  would  have  been  heir 
to  the  throne  after  his  father's  death:  and  he  had 
not  ''' endeavoured  io  ^uhyeri  the  constitution,"  if 
his  father  had.    Nevertheless,  the  acts  of  parliament 


LETTER    III.  51 

set  aside  this  son,  and  made  it  high  treason  in  any 
man  to  assert  that  he  had  a  right  to  the  throne  ;  and 
these  acts  of  parliament  all  went  into  full  effect. 

I  have  mentioned  these  things  to  show  you  what 
the  nation  did  in  this  case  ;  and  to  show  you  that 
the  king  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  superior  lord  over 
the  lands  by  Divine  right,  but  by  law  ;  and  by  such 
law  as  the  nation  may  choose  to  make.  Our  law- 
yers, and  particularly  Judge  Blackstone,  have  de- 
termined that  it  was  agreeable  to  the  principles  of 
the  constitution  of  England  to  pass  the  acts  which 
I  have  just  mentioned.  "  For,"  says  Judge  Black- 
stone,  (Book  I.  chap.  3,)  "  whenever  a  question 
arises  between  the  society  at  large  and  any  magis- 
trate, originally  delegated  by  that  society,  it  must 
be  decided  by  the  voice  of  the  society  itself;  there 
is  not  upon  earth  another  tribunal  to  resort  to. 
And  that  these  consequences  were  fairly  deduced 
from  these  facts,  our  ancestors  have  solemnly  de- 
termined, in  a  full  -parliamentary  convention,  re- 
presenting  the  whole  society;''''  that  is  to  say,  a 
convention,  w^hich  means  a  meeting,  of  English 
lords  and  gentlemen,  and  the  lord  mayor  and  com- 
mon council  men  of  London,  without  a  king  ;  and 
having  been  called  together  by  no  king,  and  by  no 
one  having  legal  authority  to  call  them  together  : 
this  great  lawyer  and  great  teacher  of  our  laws  tells 
us,  that  this  meeting  was  in  itself  and  in  its  acts  a 
thing  consonant  to  the  principles  of  our  English 
laws.  It  is  clear,  then,  that  the  whole  of  this  great 
affair  was  the  work  of  the  society  or  nation  ;  and 
certainly,  he  contends,  that  we  ought  to  be  grateful 
to  the  actors  in  this  scene,  who  acted,  he  says,  agree- 
ably to  our  constitution  and  to  the  rights  of  human 
nature.  If,  then,  the  nation  can  thus  act  in  accord- 
ance with  the  spirit  of  the  constitution,  the  king 


52  LETTER    III. 

must  be  surely  held  to  sit  on  the  throne  for  the  he- 
nefit  of  the  whole  nation  ;  that  he  is  the  represent- 
ative of  his  whole  people  ;  and  that  it  is  in  this  his 
capacity  as  legal  chief  of  the  people,  that  he  is  .the 
superior  lord  over  all  the  estates  in  the  kiiigdon), 
and  that  it  is  in  that  capacity  that  in  him  the  ulti- 
mate property  of  all  lands  resides. 

And,  indeed,  thus  it  must  be  under  all  govern- 
ments, in  substance,  though  not  always  in  the  same 
form  and  under  the  same  names.  There  is  no  king 
in  the  United  States  of  America,  but  the  congress  of 
that  country  are  invested  with  the  ownership  of  all 
the  unsettled  lands,  which  they  dispose  of  at  cer- 
tain prices  for  the  benefit  of  the  nation  ;  but  even 
when  purchased,  the  purchasers  do  not  possess  an 
absolute  ownership,  a  thing  constantly  to  be  borne 
in  mind  by  all  of  you  ;  and  then,  when  you  hear 
men  talk  of  their  estates,  as  if  they  were  the  cre- 
ators of  them,  or  as  if  they  held  them  by  an  im- 
mediate grant  from  God,  you  will  remiid  them, 
that  the  chief  of  the  nation  is  their  superior  lord, 
and  that  they  are  entitled  to  nothing  but  the  profits 
of  them  ;  and,  above  all  things,  ii  would  be  useful 
to  bear  this  in  mind,  if  it  should  come  to  be  a  ques- 
tion, whether  it  will  not  be  proper  to  petition  the 
parliament  to  repeal  the  act  which  took  away  from 
the  chief  of  the  nation  tlie  revenue  arising  out  of 
these  estates,  and  which  transferred  the  charge  due 
from  them ;  the  charge  due  from  the  property  of 
the  landholders  to  be  laid  upon  your  property  ;  that 
is  to  say,  on  your  labour,  which  is  a  property  over 
which  there  can  be  no  superior  lord.  The  transac- 
tions of  this  renowned  "  reformed  parliament" 
have  made  it  just  and  necessary  for  us  all  to  look 
well  into  these  matters;  and  I  trust  that  we  shall 
not  neglect  our  duty.     Loud   talk,  noisy  declama- 


LETTER    IV.  53 

tion,  answer  no  good  purpose.  One  hour  spent  in 
soberly  looking  into  the  rights  of  things  in  this  man- 
ner, is  more  likely  to  make  men  act  with  good 
sense,  and  with  effect,  than  whole  years  spent  in 
clamorous  railing. 


LETTER  IV. 

HAVE  THE  LANDLORDS  DOMINION  IN  THEIR  LANDS? 
OR,  DO  THEY  LAWFULLY  POSSESS  ONLY  THE  USE 
OF  THEM  ?  CAN  THEY  DO  WHAT  THEY  LIKE  WITH 
THEM  ? 

My  Friends, 

Dominion  means  mastership  ;  complete  control ; 
a  right  to  do  what  you  choose  with  the  thing,  ex- 
cept you  be  controlled  by  some  specific  law.  Eng- 
land, Scotland,  and  Ireland,  are,  for  instance,  do- 
minions of  our  king  ;  but  still  his  dominion  is  not 
absolute  in  him.  He  could  not  give  Kent  to  the 
King  of  France  ;  nor  can  he,  without  a  law  as- 
sented to  by  the  lords  and  the  representatives  of 
the  people,  alienate,  or  make  away  with  any  part  of 
his  dominions.  As  to  men's  estates,  they  can  have 
no  dominion  in  them  :  they  own  the  fruits  of  them  ; 
they  are  holders  of  the  soil  itself;  they  are  their 
estates  ;  but  they  possess,  in  law,  no  dominion  ; 
the  king  having  dominion  over  them  all.  It  is  of 
great  importance  to  have  a  clear  understanding  as 
to  this  matter  ;  because,  as  we  shall  see  in  the  next 
letter,  a  great  deal  of  a  practical  nature  depends 
upon  it. 

A  man  lawfully  possesses  only  the  use  of  the 
farm,  for  instance,  which  he  calls  his  own.  We 
E2 


54  LETTER  IV. 

see  how  improperly  it  is  that  he  does  call  it  his 
own,  the  chief  of  the  nation  beiiig  a  lord  over  him  • 
but,  with  regard  to  the  dominion,  the  chief  of  the 
nation  has  the  dominion  over  the  land,  besides  be- 
ing the  superior  lord  over  the  tenant.  Some  auda- 
cious landholders  have  asked,  "  Have  not  I  a  right 
to  do  what  I  like  with  rny  oioti  i"'  And  it  is  very 
curious  that  we  have  never  heard  them  receive  any 
answer ;  very  curious  that  we  have  heard  any  one 
to  say  "  NO"  to  this  very  impudent  question, 
which  applies  not  only  to  houses  in  a  town  ;  but  to 
lands,  wherever  those  lands  may  be  situated  within 
the  kingdom  ;  and  situated  on  the  sea-coast,  as  well 
as  elsewhere. 

Now,  then,  suppose  a  man  to  be  the  landholder 
of  Pevensey  level ;  a  place  very  convenient  for  a 
French  army  to  land.  He  cannot  sell  Pevexsey 
level  to  the  King  of  France,  because  the  law  ren- 
ders null  and  void  the  purchase  of  land  by  fo- 
reigners. Here,  then,  to  begin  with,  he  cannot  do 
what  he  likes  with  his  ^'■oicn.^^  But  there  is  no 
positive  law  against  his  letting  it.  And,  could  he, 
in  time  of  war  let  Pevensey  level  to  the  King  of 
France  ?  He  might ;  but  if  there  were  any  justice 
left  in  the  country,  he  vrould  be  hanged  for  high 
treason :  and  that  would  be  a  curious  effect,  pro- 
ceeding from  the  very  simple  operation  of  a  man 
only  doing  "  what  he  liked  with  his  own.'^ 

The  truth  is,  that  men  talk  in  this  manner,  be- 
cause they  have  never  looked  into  the  law,  as  ex- 
plained in  the  third  Letter  of  this  little  book-  This 
impudence  and  audaciousness  arises  solely  from 
the  impudent  and  audacious  persons  not  having 
learned  even  the  A,  B,  C,  of  the  law ;  for  that  would 
have  taught  them,  that  neither  the  land,  nor  any 
thing  immoveably  attached  to  the  land,  is   theii 


LETTER  IV.  55 

'^WN  ;  and  that  they  are  merely  the  holders,  or 
ijenants,  under  a  superior  lord  ;  that  that  lord  is  the 
chief  of  the  commonwealth  ;  that  it  is  in  that  ca- 
pacity that  he  is  their  superior  lord,  who,  besides 
this,  has  dominion  over  every  inch  of  land  in  the 
kingdom. 

Men  lawfully  possess  only  the  use  of  land  and 
of  things  attached  to  the  land  ;  and  they  must  take 
care  that  in  using  them,  they  do  not  do  injury  to 
any  other  part  of  the  community,  or  to  the  whole 
of  the  community  taken  tog^ether.  You  may  do 
what  you  like  with  your  land,  so  long  as  the  use, 
which  you  make  of  it,  is  not  injurious  to  your 
neighbours  ;  and  so  long  as  the  Legislature  does 
not  deem  the  use  you  make  of  it  to  be  injurious  to 
the  commonwealth. 

If  men  might  do  just  what  they  pleased  with  their 
]and,  or  with  any  house  or  building  that  they  may 
have  upon  their  land,  almost  any  man  having  a  con- 
siderable estate  might  annoy,  if  not  actually  ruin, 
a  very  large  part  of  those  who  have  lands  or  houses 
near  him.  In  a  town,  for  instance,  a  man  might 
set  fire  to  his  own  house  ;  and,  having  taken  a  suit- 
able occasion  to  do  it,  might  burn  the  Avhole  town. 
To  set  fire  to  your  own  house,  therefore,  is  felony, 
punishable  with  death,  if  it  injure  the  house  of  your 
neighbour  ;  and  if  it  do  not  do  injury  to  any  one, 
it  is,  if  there  be  other  houses  adjoining  belonging 
to  other  persons,  a  misdemeanour,  punishable  with 
fine  and  imprisonment.  You  must  not  have  trees 
standing  on  your  ground  sending  out  branches  to 
hang  over  your  neighbour's  ground  ;  because,  by 
their  shade  ;  by  intercepting  the  rains,  and  the  dews, 
and  the  rays  of  the  sun,  they  take  from  your  neigh- 
bour the  uge  of  these  things,  which  are  the  common 
property  of  all  mankind ;  and  we  may  suppose  a 


56  LETTER  IV. 

case  in  which  the  small  garden  of  one  man  may  be 
rendered  totally  useless  by  spreading  trees  standing 
on  the  ground  of  another  man. 

You  must  not  erect  any  building  to  darken  the 
windows  in  your  neighbour's  house,  if  those  win- 
dows have  been  there  for  .a  great  length  of  time; 
nor  must  you  open  new  windows  yourself,  in  your 
own  building,  to  overlook  his  ground  ;  because  by 
either  of  these  acts  you  render'  his  property  less 
valuable  :  you  do  him  an  injury.  And  there  are 
thousands  of  cases  in  which  a  rich  man  might  ruin 
scores  of  neighbours  of  small  property,  if  they  were 
not  thus  protected  by  the  law,  which  law  is  clearly 
founded  in  natural  justice. 

But  natural  justice  and  the  law  of  the  land  go 
further  than  this.  They  forbid  you  to  have  upon 
your  land,  or  in  your  buildings,  any  thing  that  shall 
make  noises,  such  as  to  disturb  the  quiet,  break  the 
rest,  or  otherwise  necessarily  make  it  painful  to 
your  neighbours.  A  malignant  rich  man,  wishing 
to  drive  all  the  people  of  a  vicinage  out  of  their 
houses,  might  cause  half-a-dozen  gongs  to  be  in- 
cessantly sounded,  or  cannons  to  be  fired,  or  kettle- 
drums to  be  beaten,  so  that  the  people  of  the  neigh- 
bourhood could  neither  sleep,  nor  hear  each  other 
speak.  Short  of  this,  and  without  any  malignant 
motive,  a  man  might  have  on  his  premises  an  engine 
of  some  sort,  the  working  of  which  must  necessa- 
rily be  an  annoyance  to  the  neighbourhood,  make 
the  lives  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighbouring 
houses  less  pleasant,  and,  of  course,  less  valuable 
to  the  owners. 

Neither  must  you,  by  any  thing  that  you  do  on 
your  premises,  cause  smokes,  or  nauseous  smells, 
which  necessarily  extend  to  a  distance  from  your 
premises :  you  must  not,  for  the  reason  just  men- 


LETTER  IV.  57 

tioned,  cause  such  smokes  and  smells  to  issue  forth 
from  the  lands  or  houses  that  you  possess.  No  one 
denies  that  you  have  a  full  right  to  the  use  of  your 
lands  and  premises  ;  but  reason  says,  and  justice 
says,  that  you  have  no  right  to  avail  yourself  of 
that  use  to  do  injury  to  another  man.  The  first  of 
all  rights  is  the  right  of  life  and  limb.  I  have  a 
right  to  the  use  of  my  hands  ;  but  I.  have  not  a 
right  to  apply  that  use  to  any  purpose  that  I  please  ; 
and  yet  I  have  as  much  right  to  knock  you  down 
with  my  fists,  as  you  have  to  send  forth  from  your 
premises  smokes  or  smells  which  must  naturally 
drive  me  out  of  my  house. 

The  above  are  restraints  upon  a  man  for  the  good 
or  security  of  his  neighbours,  or  of  a  comparatively 
small  part  of  the  community.  But,  there  are 
other  cases  demanding  a  similar  restraint  for  the 
good  of  the  whole  community.  Suppose  a  river 
or  stream  to  have  its  spring  in  your  land,  to  run  for 
a  distance  through  it,  then  to  pass  through  other 
lands.  Now  observe,  water,  air,  light,  are  things 
always  possessed  in  common.  They  cannot,  except 
in  particular  cases,  be  appropriated,  or  become  the 
property  of  any  man.  The  spring,  the  bed  of  it, 
and  the  land  around  it,  are  yours.  The  stream  is 
yours,  to  use  at  your  pleasure,  as  far  as  it  runs  upon 
yout  land  :  but,  you  must  not  destroy  the  spring, 
if  you  can  ;  you  must  not  prevent  the  stream  from 
going  on,  and  entering  your  neighbour's  land  at 
the  usual  place  ;  for  there  it  begins  to  be  his,  as 
completely  as  the  spring  and  the  former  part  of  the 
stream  are  yours.  Besides  this,  you  must  not  do 
any  thing  to  the  water,  even  on  your  own  premises, 
that  shall  change  its  colour  or  its  quality  in  any 
respect.  If  you  were  to  apply  the  stream  to  any 
purpose  that  would  cause  the  water  to  kill  cattle 


58  LETTER  IV 

by  the  drinking  of  it,  the  law  would  compel  you  to 
pay  the  full  amount  of  the  damage  thus  done  to 
your  neighbour,  or  to  a  whole  series  of  neighbours, 
and  through  them  to  the  community  at  large. 

The  statute  law  restrains  men  from  turning  out 
on  commons  stallions  under  a  certain  height.  This 
may  seem  to  be  a  strange  prohibition,  a  very  bold 
interference  with  a  man's  use  of  his  property  ;  but 
it  is,  nevertheless,  consonant  with  reason  and  with 
natural  justice  ;  for,  without  such  restraint,  those 
persons  who  kept  mares  would  be  deprived  of  the 
use  of  the  common  for  them,  or  would  have  their 
breed  of  horses  spoiled,  to  the  very  great  injury  of 
the  community. 

Men  are  forbidden,  in  this  kingdom,  to  grow  to- 
bacco on  their  lands.  This,  one  would  think,  ought 
not  to  be.  The  cause  is,  that  the  excise  duty  on 
tobacco  yields  a  great  deal  of  money  ;  and,  if  the 
tobacco  were  cultivated  here,  instead  of  being 
brought  from  abroad,  it  is  evident  that  it  would  be 
impossible  to  collect  an  excise  duty  from  it ;  be- 
cause, being  planted  in  every  man's  garden,  and  in 
every  field,  or  corner  of  a  field,  those  who  use  to- 
bacco would  provide  themselves  with  it  without 
paying  duty ;  as,  indeed,  some  men  do  now,  in 
spite  of  the  law.  We  have  seen,  in  Letter  II,  that 
it  was  Cromwell,  and  his  execrable  villains,  who 
first  invented  the  Excise.  We  have  seen  that  it 
was  they  who  first  made  the  people  pay  taxes  on 
tobacco.  The  duty  has  remained  from  that  day  to 
this  ;  and  though  this  statute  law  relative  to  this 
matter  is  not  in  accordance  with  natural  justice, 
but  a  gross  violation  of  that  justice,  still  it  shows 
that  those  who  govern  us  give  us  this  signal  proof, 
that  they  do  not  regard  property  in  land  sufficient 
to  warrant  the  proprietor  in  doinsr  what  he  likes 


LETTER   IV.  59 

nnth  it ;  that  they  do  not  regard  him  as  having  an 
absolute  proprietorship ;  that  they  deem  it  just 
and  proper  tliat  he  should  hold  the  land,  subject  to 
such  restraints,  charges,  and  conditions,  as  the  le- 
gislature may  at  any  time  choose  to  impose  ;  and 
this  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  when  we  come  to  the 
important  matters  which  are  to  be  the  subject  of  the 
ensuing  letters. 

The  statute  law  has  frequently  interfered,  in  a 
very  direct  and  positive  manner,  with  regard  to  the 
use  which  men  shall  make  of  their  lands.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  a  tract  of  land  will,  in  many  cases, 
bring  more  clear  profit  to  the  landlord  by  being  in 
pasture  than  by  being  in  a  state  of  tillage.  In  the 
former  state  there  requires  merely  a  herdsman  for 
two  or  three  hundred  acres  of  land  ;  whereas,  for 
the  same  quantity  of  land  in  a  state  of  tillage 
twenty  men  would  be  required.  So  that,  as  these 
twenty  men  would  be  to  be  maintained  out  of  the 
produce  of  the  land,  though  yielding  live  times  the 
quantity  of  food  by  tillage  that  it  would  by  pas- 
turage, still  the  land  would  bring  more  clear  profit 
to  the  landlord  than  by  tillage  ;  and,  if  nothing  but 
landlords  were  wanted  in  a  state  or  community, 
things  might  go  on  in  this  way  very  well. 

But,  there  are  other  folks  besides  landlords 
wanted  in  a  community  ;  and  the  law,  in  perfect 
accordance  with  natural  justice,  steps  in,  when  ne- 
cessary,* and  prevents  them  from  thinning  the  po- 
pulation of  a  country  by  turning  their  lands  into 
pasture.  In  the  history  of  our  country  this  has 
frequently  happened  ;  the  law  has  interfered  ;  it 
has  prevented  the  destruction  of  tillage  ;  it  has  li- 
mited the  bounds  of  pasturage  ;  it  has  given  a  prac- 
tical illustration  of  the  principle,  that  ail  men  hold 
their  lands,  subject  to  such  restraints  with  regard 


60  LETTER  V. 

to  the  use  of  them,  as  are  consistent  with  the  orood 
of  the  community  at  large.  Were  not  this  the  case, 
a  comparatively  small  number  of  persons  (the  great 
holders  of  land)  might  abolish  tillage  to  an  extent 
that  would  not  only  expose  innumerable  persons  to 
want,  but  that  would  deprive  the  state  of  the 
means  of  defence  against  foreign  states  ;  a  thing  so 
monstrous  as  not  to  be  thought  of  without  feelings 
of  indignation,  that  there  should  be  a  man  upon  the 
earth  presumptuous  and  arrogant  enough  to  deem 
himself  possessed  of  such  a  right 


LETTER  V. 

cax  landlords  use  their  lands  so  as  to  drive 
the  natives  from  them  ? 

My  Friends, 

We  now  come  to  practical  matter ;  that  is  to 
say,  to  matter  which  belongs  to  our  own  affairs  ; 
matter  that  we  shall  have  to  put  in  practice,  or  to 
act  upon.  The  foregoing  Letters  have  treated  of 
tlie  principles  of  property  ;  of  rights,  generally,  in 
the  abstract.  They  have  shown  how  it  has  come 
to  pass  that  some  men  have  lands  to  which  other 
men  have  not  the  same  right  that  they  have  ;  and 
they  have  shown  how  far  their  rights  extend,  with 
regard  to  many  sets  of  circumstances  and  states  of 
things.  But  we  now  approach  the  landlords  more 
closely  ;  we  now  come  to  consider  their  rights,  as 
they  bear  upon  the  rights  of  the  'working  people  ; 
and  our  first  inquiry  is,  whether  they  can,  legally, 
■make  such  use  of  their  lands  so  as  to  drive  the  na- 


LETTER  V.  61 

fives  off  from  them  ?  And  I  am  now  about  to  show 
you  that  they  have  not  such  legal'iight. 

One  of  the  great  principles  of  natural  justice  is, 
that  every  man  has  a  right  to  be  in  the  country 
where  he  was  born.  Bi.ackstone  (Book  I,  ch.  1.) 
says,  "  Every  Englishman  may  claim  a  right  to 
abide  in  his  own  country  so  long  as  he  pleases,  and 
not  to  be  driven  from  it,  except  by  sentence  of  the 
law."  But,  if  one  landlord  have  a  right  to  drive 
all  the  people  from  his  estate,  every  other  landlord 
has  the  same  right ;  and,  as  every  piece  of  the  land 
in  the  island  is  held  by  some  landlord  or  other  ; 
and  as  all  would  have  the  same  right  as  the  first 
driver,  all  the  people,  except  the  landlords,  might 
be  driven  into  the  sea. 

This  is  a  thing  too  monstrous  to  be  supposed  re- 
concileable  to  any  law  :  it  would  be  putting  land- 
lords upon  a  footing  with  God  himself;  and,  indeed, 
it  would  be  admitting  them  to  have  a  right  to  over- 
set all  his  decrees  and  all  his  laws,  and  the  whole 
of  his  will  as  to  the  affairs  of  this  world.  Vefy  far 
short  of  this,  however,  may  the  pretensions  of  land- 
lords go  ;  and  yet  go  far  enough  to  inflict  most 
dreadful  sufferings  on  the  working  part  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  on  the  community  as  a  nation. 

That  I  am  not  here  combating  with  an  imaginary 
evil  ;  that  this  is  not  a  mere  possible  evil  conjured 
up  in  my  own  mind  ;  that  this  driving  off  of  the  peo- 
ple is  not  a  mere  dream  of  mine  ;  and  that  I  am  not 
writing  this  part  of  my  book  for  the  purpose  of  fill- 
ing up  an  idle  hour  in  the  time  of  my  readers  ;  but 
that  I  am  now  combating  a  real,  a  practical,  a 
growing,  and  a  dangerous,  as  well  as  a  cruel  evil, 
I  think  it  necessary,  before  I  proceed  further,  most 
clearly  to  show. 

It  has,  of  late  years,  been  a  wide-spread  practice, 
F 


63  LETTER  V. 

in  Ireland  and  Scotland,  to  drive  the  working  peo- 
ple off  the  lands,*  for  the  purpose,  either  of  mould- 
ing many  small  parcels  of  land  into  one  great  farm  ; 
or  for  the  purpose  of  laying  the  lands  down  into 
pasturage  for  cattle,  or  for  sheep,  by  which  means 
the  landlord,  as  suggested  in  the  preceding  Letter, 
calculates,  that  he  gets  more  in  clear  profit  by  dri- 
ving the  people  off  than  by  letting  them  remain.  I 
shall  give  here  two  extracts  from  reports  made  to 
the  House  of  Commons  by  committees,  appointed 
to  examine  into  the  state  of  the  poor  in  Ireland. 
When  I  have  done  that,  I  shall  speak  of  the  reme- 
dy; that  is  to  say,  of  legal  means  to  put  a  stop  to 
this  evil  and  cruelty ;  which,  as  I  shall  show,  arises 
out  of  a  total  neglect  of  the  dictates  of  natural  jus- 
tice, as  well  as  a  total  neglect  of  due  attention  to 
the  fundamental  laws  of  this  kingdom. 

From  these  reports  we  learn  that  the  right  oi 
"  CLEARING  ESTATES ;"  that  is  to  say,  driving  the 
natives  off,  has  not  been  called  in  question  ;  that  it 
has  been  spoken  of  as  familiarly,  and  with  as  little 
feeling,  as  of  the  driving  off  encroaching  cattle 
from  a  neld  or  a  common ;  or  as  of  the  driving  of 
rooks  from  a  pea-field,  or  rats  from  a  farm  yard.  It 
is  related,  that  in  the  cleanings  of  a  very  large 
tract,  FIRE  was  resorted  to  ;  so  closely  did  the  poor 
creatures  cling  to  the  spot  of  their  birth  !  The  de- 
structive use  of  that  terrible  element  was  resorted 
to  by  the  ^^magnanimous''''  Alexander,  and  used 
in  a  manner  that  could  not  have  burnt  to  death  less 
than  a  thousand  women  in  child-birth !  To  be  sure, 
an  effect  so  terrible  as  this  did  not  proceed  from  the 
clearing  in  question ;  but,  so  complete  was  that 
clearing;  so  unsparing  was  it ;  that  I  am  informed, 
and  I  believe  the  fact,  that  there  is  not  now  one  sin- 
g  e  human  being  in  that  district,  who  can  look  back 


LETTER    V.  63 

to  grandfafner  or  grandmother  who  was  horn  on 
the  spot ! 

Of  the  effects  of  a  ^^  clearing''''  in  Ireland  we 
have  the  following  account,  in  a  report  of  a  com- 
mittee of  the  House  of  Commons,  printed  by  an 
order  of  the  House,  dated  on  the  10  July,  1830; 
"  The  situation  of  the  ejected  tenantry,  or  of  those 
who  are  obliged  to  give  up  their  small  holdings,  in 
order  to  -promote  the  cor.soUdation  of  farms,  is  ne- 
cessarily most  deplorable.  It  would  he  impossible 
for  language  to  convey  an  idea  of  the  state  of  dis- 
tress to  which  the  ejected  tenantry  have  been  re- 
duced, or  of  the  disease,  misery,  and  even  vice, 
which  they  have  propagated  in  the  towns  wherein 
they  have  settled ;  so  that  not  only  they  who  have 
been  ejected  have  been  rendered  miserable,  but  they 
have  carried  with  them  and  propagated  that  misery. 
They  have  increased  the  stock  of  labour,  they  have 
rendered  the  habitations  of  those  who  received  them 
more  crowded  ;  they  have  given  occasion  to  the 
dissemination  of  disease ;  they  have  been  obliged  to 
resort  to  theft  and  all  manner  of  vice  and  iniquity 
to  procure  subsistence  ;  but  what  is,  perhaps,  most 
painful  of  all,  A  VAST  NUMBER  OF  THEM 
HAVE  PERISHED  OF  WANT  !" 

This  appears  to  have  excited  no  wonder  at  all : 
there  was  no  one  talked  of  any  measure  to  prevent 
a  repetition  of  this.  Quite  a  proper  thing,  to  all 
appearance.  No  servant  of  the  king  to  assert  his 
rights  of  dominion,  and  of  his  claim  to  the  safety  of 
the  lives  of  his  subjects  ;  nothing  said  to  this  clear- 
ing proprietor,  any  more  than  if  he  had  been  a  god. 
In  a  report  from  a  similar  committee  of  the  same 
House,  in  1821,  we  find  that  Mr.  Stanley,  who  is 
now  Lord  Stanley,  giving  the  following  evidence, 
relating  to  the  poor  on  his  estates  in  Ireland. 


64  LETTER  V. 

"Has  it  occurred  to  you,  that  in  a  case  of  this 
kind,  emigration  might  be  applied^  and  be  a  benefit? 

AnsAver. — "  Of  the  greatest  possible  ;  and  I  am 
convinced  that  the  expense  to  devolve  upon  the 
landlord  in  sending  a  portion  of  the  population  out, 
would  be  amply  repaid  in  a  very  iew  years  in  a  pe- 
cuniary point  of  view,  not  by  an  increased  nominal 
rent,  but  by  an  increased  probability  of  its  being 
paid ;  I  should  have  recommended  as  the  cheapest 
and  most  effectual  mode  of  reforming  this  estate, 
and  the  agent  for  the  property  entirely  concurred 
with  me  in  opinion,  the  sending  a  certain  number 
of  those  persons  to  America,  but  that  I  was  aware 
of  the  possible  distress  which  might  await  emi- 
grants, especially  with  families,  on  landing,  wholly 
improvided  for  and  destitute,  and  I  waited  most 
anxiously  to  see  whether  Government  would  con- 
cur with  Irish  landlords  in  some  system  which 
might  clear  their  estates,  be  of  important  national 
advantage  in  securing  the  tranquillity  of  Ireland, 
and  benefit  of  the  colonies  by  an  accession  of  popu- 
lation and  wealth.  If  any  such  plan  be  adopted, 
so  as  to  secure  the  comfort  of  the  emigrant  on  land- 
ing, I  should  probably  become  an  applicant  for  as- 
sistance to  a  considerable  amount. 

Question  4396.  "  Have  you  any  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  the  people  will  fali  in  with  the  plan  ? 

Answer. — "I  am  sure  they  would  to  an  extent 
which  might  be  embarrassing,  and  within  the  limits 
of  a  very  confined  experience;  I  speak  not  without 
facts,  I  have  had  frequent  applications  from  the 
estate  of  which  I  have  been  speaking,  to  pay  the 
passage  money  to  America,  and  last  year  I  desired 
the  agent  to  call  together  the  tenants  on  the  Lime- 
rick property,  to  tell  them  that  I  had  no  complaint 
against  one  more  than  another,  nor  any  wish  to  turn 


LETTER  V.  65 

them  out  of  their  holdings,  but  that  they  knew  that 
the  rent  must  he  paid,  that  there  were  more  persons 
upon  the  land  than  it  could  support,  and  that  I 
wished  to  know,  who  were  ready  to  volunteer  for 
America,  explaining  the  conditions  for  the  sake  of 
giving  their  lands  among  those  who  remained.  In 
three  or  four  days,  offers  came  in,  I  think,  from  se- 
venty-nine out  of  three  hundred  and  thirty-nine, 
and  I  do  not  doubt  many  more  would  have  follow- 
ed. We  could  at  present  eject  all  these  persons, 
but  independently  of  motives  of  humanity,  there 
might  be  a  risk  in  doing  it  to  such  a  number,  but 
with  such  an  alternative  offered  to  them,  /  should 
feel  no  scruple  in  asserting  my  right,  and  I  am 
confident  there  is  good  sense  in  the  Irish  peasant, 
which  would  make  them  at  once,  and  thankfully 
accept  the  offer ;  for  the  landlord  and  tenant  I  think 
emigration  is  equally  desirable,  as  affording  the 
means  of  effecting  that  which  must  precede  all  im- 
provement on  Irish  estates,  the  diminution  of  the 
resident  population.''^ 

We  see  here  that  Mr.  Stanley  pleads  his  right, 
and  smooths  over  the  transaction  by  the  offer  of  a 
conveyance  to  Canada  ;  that  is  to  say,  he  gives  the 
poor  creatures  the  choice  of  transportation  to  a  fo- 
reign land,  or  of  perishing  from  want  in  their  native 
land.  I  have  ascertained  upon  the  spot  the  fate  of 
the  miserable  creatures  who  were  expatriated  in 
pursuance  of  -what  Mr.  Stanley  calls,  exercising 
his  right  in  the  county  of  Limerick.  But  I  choose 
rather  to  rely  on  other  authorities  ;  though,  as  I 
have  nam.es,  and  dates,  and  witnesses  to  the  facts, 
my  own  authority  would  be  perfectly  good.  I  will 
not,  however,  put  it  forward,  but  will  state  the  fol- 
lowing undeniable  facts.  That,  in  Canada,  there  is 
an  act  of  the  assembly  imposing  a  tax  on  emigrants 
F  2 


66  LETTER  V. 

for  the  doubJe  purpose  of  preventing  emigration, 
and  of  helping  to  meet  the  burden  imposed  upon 
the  people  to  keep  the  poorer  part  of  the  emigrants 
from  starving. 

This  ought  to  be  quite  enough  to  satisfy  any  one, 
that,  to  give  people  the  choice  of  starvation  at 
home,  or  transportation  to  Canada,  is  only,  in  fact, 
giving  them  a  choice  of  the  time  at  which  they  shall 
be  starved  to  death.  But,  there  is  a  book  to  which 
I  must  refer,  that  of  Mr.  MoTaggart,  a  Scotch 
gentleman,  and  a  civil  engineer  in  the  service  of 
the  English  government  in  Canada.  This  book 
was  published  in  1829  ;  and  in  it  the  author  states, 
that  the  emigration  is  planting  misery  in  Canada  ; 
that  at  Sidney  and  Halifax  the  wretched  emi- 
grants were  rescued  from  starvation  by  issues  from 
the  public  treasury  ;  that  at  St.  John's  a  cargo  of 
emigrants  from  Kilala  had  arrived,  sixteen  of 
whom  had  died  on  the  passage  ;  that  three  hundred 
and  seventy  had  been  crammed  into  the  ship,  capa- 
ble of  carrying,  as  it  ought  to  have  done,  only  a 
hundred  and  eighty-seven  ;  that  the  vessels  in  which 
emigrants  go  to  Canada  are  of  the  worst  descrip- 
tion, calculated  for  the  carriage  of  timber,  and  not 
liable  to  sink  with  such  a  cargo  ;  and  that  in  one  ol 
these  five  hundred  Irish  emigrants  perished  by  ship- 
wreck ! 

Mr.  Mc  Taggart  says,  in  speaking  of  the  deaths 
of  the  emigrants,  "  that  the  Irish  absolutely  die  by 
the  dozen  of  disease  ;  in  winter  hy  frost-bites,  in 
summer  by  malignant  fevers  of  all  kinds  ;  but  that 
those  who  own  wild  lands  in  America  encourage 
this  emigration  by  their  falsehoods.  Out  of  one 
hundred  grown- up  persons,  and  two  hundred  chil- 
dren, the  mortality  will  be  found  nearly  as  follows  : 
first  year,  five  of  the  former  and  thirty  of  the  latter; 


LETTER  V.  67 

second  year,  eight-and-forty ;  at  the  end  of  five 
years  only  fifty  of  the  children  will  probably  be 
found  living,  and  twenty  of  the  grown-up  people." 

The  medical  report  of  the  Quebec  emigrant  hos- 
pital, dated  13th  of  Auonst,  IbSl,  says,  "The  con- 
stant arrival  of  vessels  from  Europe  with  emigrants, 
many  of  whom  are  obliged  to  he  out  in  the  streets 
and  on  wharfs,  causing  most  distressing  spectacles, 
and  many  of  them  dangerously  ill,  dying  in  the 
streets.^'' 

There  is  no  one  who  can  call  in  question  the 
correctness  of  these  facts  ;  and  if  these  facts  be 
correct,  what  monsters  are  those  who  compose  what 
are  called  "  emigration  societies,"  or  "  colonial  as- 
sociations ;"  and  w  hat  a  government  and  what  a 
parliament  must  those  be,  v/ho  not  only  do  not  put 
down  but  who  seem  to  encourage  these  underta- 
kings !  And,  who  can  quietly  hear  men  talk  of  clear- 
ing their  estates,  as  we  talk  of  clearing  a  homestead 
of  vermin ! 

Mr.  Stanley  (who  is  now^  in  1834,  Lord  Stan- 
ley) tells  us,  that  the  people  gladly  accepted  of  his 
terms  of  emigration  ;  but  he  does  not  tell  us  that 
he  told  them,  that  they  would  be  exposed  to  die  in 
the  streets  in  Canada,  and  that,  at  the  end  of  five 
years,  only  seventy  of  them  would  be  alive  out  of 
three  hundred  ;  and  even  if  he  had  told  them  this, 
men  prefer  the  chance  of  life  at  the  end  of  five  years, 
or  at  the  end  of  five  weeks,  to  starvation  in  the 
course  of  five  days. 

But  let  us  now  see  how  this  compulsory  ejectment 
from  the  country  squares  with  the  law,  whether  of 
God  or  of  man.  Throughout  the  whole  of  the  Bi- 
ble, the  precept  is  inculcated,  that  men  are  not  to 
grasp  at  lands  or  houses  in  quantity  beyond  their 
reasonable  wants.      In  Isaiah,  oth  chap,  and  8th 


68  LETTER  V. 

verse,  we  have  these  words.  "  Woe  unto  them  that 
join  house  to  house,  and  lay  field  to  field,  till  there 
be  no  place,  that  they  may  be  placed  alone  in  the 
midst  of  the  earth."  In  the  prophet  Amos,  aftei 
describing  the  punishment  due  to  the  crimes  of  the 
community,  the  text  proceeds  thus:  "Hear  this,  O 
ye  that  swallow  up  the  needy,  even  to  make  the 
poor  of  the  land  to  fail ;"  that  is  to  say,  to  be  driven 
away,  to  be  wanting,  to  be  absent,  to  be  blotted  out. 
But  are  there  not  five  hundred  passages  in  the  two 
Testaments,  in  which  denunciations  are  laid  down 
against  oppressors  of  the  poor  ?  And  what  greater 
oppression  can  there  be,  or  what  oppression  so 
great,  short  of  inflicting  death  ;  what  greater  op- 
pression than  that  of  saying  to  a  man,  you  shall 
quit  your  native  land  for  ever,  or  be  exposed  to  die 
of  hunger  or  of  cold  ?  What  greater  oppression 
than  this,  to  say  nothing  about  the  heightening  of 
this  oppression  by  sending  the  oppressed  creature 
to  the  jfrost-bites  and  the  fevers  of  Canada  ? 

Thus  far  the  law  of  God  ;  and  now,  how  does  this 
right  of  clearing  estates  :  how  does  this  right  of 
transportation  or  banishment  for  life,  comport  with 
the  laws  of  England  ?  The  laws  of  England  insist 
upon  allegiance  for  life;  unalienable  allegiance, 
due  from  every  person  born  in  the  king's  dominions, 
to  the  king,  as  chief  of  the  kingdom  or  common- 
wealth. Allegiance  means  the  tie  which  binds 
every  man  to  be  faithful  to  his  country  and  its  so- 
vereign ;  not  to  bear  arms  against  them,  and  not,  in 
any  way  whatsoever,  to  give  aid,  assistance,  or 
comfort  to  their  enemies.  There  is  a  condition  at- 
tached to  this  obligation,  which  we  shall  have  to 
pay  attention  to  by-and-by  ;  but  at  present,  we 
have  only  to  look  at  the  obligation  as  it  bears  upon 


LETTER    V.  69 

the  practice  of  compelling  men  to  quit  their  coun- 
try or  to  starve. 

Certainly  nothing  is  more  reasonable  or  more 
just  than  this  law  of  allegiance.  It  is  just,  too,  tha-t 
it  should  be  indefeasible  ;  that  is  to  say,  that  it 
should  be  at  all  times  and  in  all  places  binding; 
that  it  never  should  cease  but  with  the  man's  life  ; 
that  voluntarily  going  into  another  country  ought 
not  at  all  to  lessen  the  obligations  of  allegiance,  be- 
cause a  man  cannot  unlive  the  time  that  he  has  liv- 
ed ;  and  the  obligation  on  him  cannot,  therefore, 
cease  but  with  his  life. 

But  (and  now  comes  the  application)  if  a  law  be 
passed  to  send  a  man  out  of  his  country,  on  pain 
of  starvation,  v/ithout  his  having  been  sentenced  to 
transportation  by  due  course  of  law  ;  if  a  law  be 
passed  to  authorize  landlords  to  inflict  this  species 
of  transportation  at  their  pleasure,  or  to  give  the 
transported  person  the  choice  between  transporta- 
tion and  death  from  hunger  and  cold  :  if  a  law  be 
passed  to  this  amount,  is  there  not  an  end  of  that 
law  of  allegiance,  which  is  the  great  cem.ent  of  the 
social  compact ;  the  great  distinguisher  of  nation 
from  nation  ;  the  great  duty,  without  a  due  sense  of 
which  patriotism  is  a  word  without  a  meaning,  and 
the  word  Country  itself  means  nothing  but  the  dirt, 
and  the  grass,  and  the  trees  :  is  there  not  an  end  to 
this  great  law  written  in  the  hearts  of  all  mankind  ? 

Shall  we  be  told  that  these  clearing  and  trans- 
porting landlords  have  no  law  for  what  they  do  ? 
Certainly  we  shall.  But,  where  is  the  difference  to 
the  people,  whether  the  government  permit  them 
to  be  at  the  mercy  of  a  handful  of  person^  called 
landlords;  where  is  the  difference  to  the  people, 
whether  they  be  thus  transported  hy  law,  or  against 
law;  and,  if  impunity,   complete  impunity,  be  en- 


70  LETTER    V. 

joyed  by  their  oppressors  ?  The  law  of  allegiance, 
in  the  first  place,  affords  quite  sufficient  ground  for 
proceeding  legally  against  any  landlord  who  shall 
thus  deal  with  the  king's  subjects,  whom  he  thereby 
forcibly  withdraws  from  their  allegiance  ;  for,  any- 
thing so  monstrous  never  has  yet  been  heard  of,  as 
an  attempt  to  maintain  that  a  man  thus  cleared  off 
the  land  of  his  birth,  thus  doomed  to  death  or  to 
expatriation  ;  any  thing  so  monstrous  has  not  yet 
been  heard  of,  as  an  attempt  to  maintain  that  such 
a  man  still  owes  allegiance  to  the  country  of  his 
birth,  out  of  which  he  has  thus,  without  any  offence 
by  him  committed  against  the  laws,  been  ejected 
for  ever,  on  pain  of  starvation. 

The  law  of  allegiance  is  a  law  founded  in  reason, 
in  nature,  and  in  the  necessity  which  every  country 
has  of  it  for  the  support  of  its  independence  ;  but, 
there  is  a  condition  attached  to  this  duty  of  alle- 
giance;  and  now  let  us  see  what  this  condition  is. 
Blackstone  (book  i.  ch.  10)  says,  "Allegiance  is 
the  tie  or  ligamen,  which  binds  the  subject  to  the 
king,  in  return  for  that  protection  which  the  king 
affords  the  subject."  Further  on,  in  the  same 
chapter,  he  describes  the  grounds  of  this  allegiance 
more  fully.  "  Natural  allegiance  is  such  as  is  due 
from  all  men  born  within  the  king's  dominions,  im- 
mediately upon  their  birth.  For,  immediately  upon 
their  birth,  they  are  under  the  king^s  protection  ; 
at  a  time,  too,  when  (during  their  infancy)  they  are 
incapable  of  protecting  themselves.  Natural  alle- 
giance is,  therefore,  a  debt  of  gratitude  ;  which 
cannot  be  forfeited,  cancelled,  or  altered,  by  any 
change  of  time,  place,  or  circumstance."  Thus 
says  Coke  ;  thus  says  Fortesctje  ;  thus  says 
Hale  ;  thus  say  all  the  lawyers  :  thus  say  Paley, 
Grotius,  Puffendorf  ;  all  the  civilians,  and  all 


LETTER    V.  71 

the  fathers  of  the  church  ;  but,  above  all  the  rest, 
thus  say  the  decisions  of  the  courts  of  justice  in 
England  ;  thus  say  the  condemnation  and  putting 
to  death  of  hundreds,  if  not  of  thousands,  of  En- 
glishmen. 

This,  then,  is  the  law  of  the  land  ;  and  very  just 
is  this  law.  Fidelity  to  country  is  inculcated  and 
commanded  from  one  end  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  to 
the  other  :  but,  is  protection  to  the  citizen  or  sub- 
ject less  imperatively  commanded  ?  Throughout  the 
whole  of  our  laws,  and  the  laws  of  every  civilized 
country  throughout  the  world,  'protection  is  due  to 
the  party,  as  the  foundation,  and  the  only  founda- 
tion, of  this  allegiance.  If  the  state  refuse  protec- 
tion, away  goes  all  its  claim  to  allegiance  ;  away 
goes  the  debt  of  gratitude.  And  what  protection 
do  those  receive  who  can,  at  the  will  of  a  land- 
holder, or  of  any  combination  of  landholders,  be 
driven  from  their  native  country ;  men,  women, 
children  ;  babes  at  the  breast ;  tottering  old  age  ; 
what  protection  is  there,  if  these  can  be  driven' 
away  by  landlords,  on  pain  of  death  from  hunger 
or  cold  ?  It  is  very  true  that  allegiance  is  due  to  the 
country  and  its  sovereign.  The  law  of  God  bids 
us  be  obedient  to  the  law  of  the  land  ;  but  it  com- 
mands the  rulers  of  the  land  to  protect  the  people, 
and,  particularly,  the  poorer  and  weaker  part  of 
the  people  :  and  our  Saviour  himself  thus  com- 
mands us,  individually  as  well  as  collectively  ;  and 
thus  denounces  those  who  shall — not  turn  the  poor 
out  to  perish,  but  who  shall  not  take  in  the  stranger, 
and  feed  and  comfort  him,  if  he  be  poor  :  "  Then 
shall  he  say  unto  them  on  the  left  hand.  Depart 
from  me,  ye  accursed,  into  everlasting  fire,  pre- 
pared for  the  devil  and  his  angels  ;  for  I  was  an 
hungered,  and  you  gave  me  no  meat ;  I  ivas  thirsty, 


73  LETTER  V. 

and  ye  gave  me  no  drink.  I  was  a  stranger,  and 
ye  took  me  not  in  ;  naked,  and  ye  clothed  me  not ; 
sick  and  in  prison,  and  ye  visited  me  not."  The 
reader  knows  that  this  is  a  figurative  passage,  which 
applies  not  to  our  Saviour  himself,  but  to  poor 
people  ;  and,  if  this  be  the  judgment  on  those  who 
refuse  food,  and  raiment,  and  shelter,  to  the  stran- 
ger, what  is  to  be  the  judgment  on  those  who  turn 
out  the  natives  to  perish  with  hunger  and  with 
cold  ? 

But,  there  is  still  another  view  to  take  of  this 
matter  ;  of  this  duty  of  allegiance,  as  connected 
with  other  duties  growing  out  of  it ;  such  as  com- 
pulsory military  service  ;  such  as  compulsion  to 
remain  in  the  country  (in  obedience  to  the  law)  for 
the  good  of  the  country.  These  matters,  howevei, 
will  find  a  more  suitable  place  in  the  next  Letter  ; 
and  I  shall  conclude  this  present  Letter  with  an- 
swering a  question  which  the  landlords  always  put 
in  this  case.  They  say,  "  What !  do  you  hold,  then 
that,  if  there  be  people  living  on  my  land,  or  in  m) 
house,  who  cannot,  or  wdio  will  not,  pay  me  any 
rent ;  do  you  hold  that  I  have  no  right  to  eject 
them,  by  due  course  of  law  V  I  hold  no  such  a  thing  : 
nothing  that  I  have  said  upon  the  subject  can  bear 
any  such  construction  ;  but  this  I  hold  ;  that  no 
individual  landlord,  and  that  not  all  the  landlords 
in  the  kingdom  put  together,  has,  or  have  the  righ( 
to  eject  the  natives  from  the  land,  and  to  make  them 
houseless,  without  providing;-  other  houses  for  them 
to  be  in  !  This  is  what  I  hold  ;  and  it  is  what  the 
laws  of  England  hold  ;  and  it  is  what  the  laws  ol 
God  clearly  hold,  from  one  end  of  the  Scripture; 
to  the  other.  A  destitute  person  is  not  merely  to 
be  relieved  from  the  suflferings  attendant  upon  hun- 
ger and  upon  want  of  clothing  ;  but  is  to  be  relieved. 


LETTER  VI.  73 

also,  from  the  effects  of  a  want  of  shelter  and  of 
lodging.  This  was  the  law,  the  undisputed  law, 
until  the  ten-pounder  Parliament  met ;  and  the 
great  question  now  is,  whether  this  law  be  to  be 
ibrogated  ? 

If  the  landlords  have  a  right,  be  the  pretence 
what  it  may,  to  eject  the  natives  from  the  land  ;. 
if  they  have  a  right,  taking  the  whole  hotly  of  them 
together,  to  turn  one  single  family  out  upon  the  bare 
ground,  without  providing  for  them  another  place 
of  abode,  then  they  have  the  right  of  killing  ; 
and  this,  too,  in  the  face  of  the  law,  which  declares, 
that  constant  protection,  from  birth  to  death,  is  due 
from  the  state  to  every  man,  as  the  sole  foundation 
of  its  claim  to  his  allegiance. 


LETTER  VI. 

CAN  THE  LANDLORDS  RIGHTFULLY  USE  THE  LANDS 
so  AS  TO  CAUSE  THE  NATIVES  TO  PERISH  OF 
HUNGER  OR  OF  COLD  ? 

Mv  Friends, 

If  they  can,  then  have  the  landlords  the  right 
TO  KILL  ;  and  the  miserable  people  of  England  are 
placed  upon  a  footing  with  the  beasts  of  the  field, 
and  the  fowls  of  the  air.  But,  I  am  about  to  show, 
that  this  is  not  the  case  ;  and  that  all  law,  human 
as  well  as  divine,  forbids  the  entertaining  of  so 
atrocious  and  ferocious  a  doctrine  ;  and  to  show 
also,  that  destitute  persons,  whether  the  destitution 
arise  from  want  of  ability  to  labour  sufficiently  to 
provide  for  themselves  ;  or  whether  it  arise  f*-om 
the  want  of  being  able  to  obtain  employment,  with 
G 


74  LETTER  VI. 

sufficient  wages  to  provide  subsistence,  clothing  and 
lodging,  sufficient  to  the  sustaining  of  life  and 
health  :  I  am  about  to  show,  that,  in  either  of  these 
cases,  such  destitute  persons  have  as  clear  a  right 
to  demand  relief  of  their  wants,  as  any  man  has  to 
the  rents  of  his  land  ;  or  to  the  goods  in  his  house. 
Indeed,  it  appears  to  me  impossible  that  any  person 
of  clear  understanding  can  have  read  the  foregoing 
Letters  without  coming  to  this  conclusion  ;  but,  the 
doctrines  in  those  Letters  have  now  to  be  applied 
to  practical  purposes  ;  and,  therefore,  I  shall  here 
enter  into  a  full  examination  of  the  question,  stated 
at  the  head  of  this  Letter  ;  and  prove  that,  accord- 
ing to  natural  justice  ;  according  to  the  laws  of 
God  ;  and  according  to  the  laAvs  of  England,  this 
right  to  relief,  in  the  cases  above-mentioned,  is  an 
unalienable  right  in  every  man  born  in  England. 

It  is  something  disgraceful  to  our  days,  that  any 
measure  should  have  been  adopted,  or  talked  of, 
which  should  have  made  the  discussion  of  this  ques- 
tion necessary  ;  but,  such  is  the  case  ;  and,  there 
fore,  discuss  it  we  must.  That  there  ought  to  he 
no  legal  provision  for  the  poor  and  destitute  ;  that 
all  such  provision  is  essentially  had;  that  such 
provision,  even  for  the  aged  and  infirm^  ought  not 
to  be  made  ;  and  that  even  the  giving  of  alms  to 
the  wretched  is  an  evil :  these  assertions  of  Mal- 
THus  and  Brougham,  and  of  Brougham's  hirelings, 
might,  if  they  had  been  confined  to  them,  have 
passed  with  a  mere  exclamation  of  contemptuous 
horror  ;  but  they  have  not  been  so  confined  ;  they 
have  been  repeated  by  hundreds  of  landlords  ;  and, 
therefore,  they  demand  a  serious,  and,  at  the  same 
tinie,  an  indignant  and  scornful  refutation. 

Natural   justice,   without  any  law   either  of 
God  or  man,  would  dictate  to  those  who  possess 


•  LETTER  Vl.  75 

the  necessaries  of  life,  to  give  (if  they  have  more 
than  absolutely  necessary  to  supply  their  own 
wants)  some  portion  of  them  to  prevent  others  from 
perishing.  Even  the  animals,  not  human  beings, 
take  care  of  their  young  ;  for  instance,  those  which 
give  suck  suffer  every  hardship  rather  than  with- 
hold the  milk  from  their  young  ones  ;  those  which 
do  not  give  suck,  take  care  that  the  young  ones  are 
fed,  before  they  feed  themselves.  A  hen,  which  is 
become  almost  a  skeleton  from  sitting,  will  come 
out  in  the  morning  with  her  chickens,  hungry  as  it 
is  possible  for  her  to  be  ;  but  not  one  morsel  will 
she  swallow  till  the  chickens  be  satisfied.  She 
will  break  the  victuals  for  them,  and,  though  half 
famished  herself,  will  swallow  none  till  they  have 
got  enough.  And  who  has  ever  seen  a  labouring 
man,  or  his  wife,  not  ready  to  endure,  and  frequent- 
ly enduring  the  torments  of  hunger,  rather  than 
suffer  their  children  to  want  ?  I  dare  say  it  is  the 
same  in  all  the  countries  in  the  world  ;  but  I  know 
it  to  be  thus  in  every  part  of  this  kingdom,  and  this 
is  what  every  one  knows,  w^ho  knows  any  thing  of 
the  people. 

Thus  far,  then,  natural  justice  would  go  ;  and  it 
would  go  a  great  deal  farther  :  it  would  extend  to 
neighbours,  as  well  as  to  relations  :  it  would  extend 
even  to  the  stranger ;  and  it  always  did  so  extend. 
Extreme  poverty  in  certain  cases  is  inseparable 
from  the  life  of  man  :  indeed,  it  is  necessary,  to 
excite  emulation,  and  to  create  industry.  If  there 
were  no  extreme  poverty  in  the  world  ;  if  that  po- 
verty were  im'possihle  to  be,  the  greatest  of  all  the 
motives  to  industry,  to  care,  to  frugality,  to  the 
preserving  of  good  moral  character,  to  the  attain- 
ment of  skill,  and  even  to  the  performance  of  deeds 
of  valour  ;  this   greatest  of  all  motives  would  be 


76  LETTER  VI.  , 

wanting  ;  and  mankind  would  be  a  low  and  worth- 
less set  of  beings,  compared  to  what  they  now  are. 
Therefore,  there  must  be  extreme  poverty  in  the 
world  ;  it  must  exist ;  and,  accordingly,  the  word 
of  God  tells  us,  that  "  The  poor  shall  never  cease 
from  out  of  the  land  ;"  that  is  to  say,  that  there 
always  must  be,  and  shall  be,  poor  people  ;  that  is, 
people  in  extreme  poverty. 

Amongst  the  innumerable  commands  of  God,  to 
take  care  of  the  poor,  let  us  first  take  the  15th 
chapter  of  Deuteronomy,  which  is  a  sort  of  an 
abridgment  of  the  whole  of  the  law  of  God  in  this 
respect.  I  do  not  know  that  it  is  necessary  to  do 
any  thing  more  than  to  take  word  for  word  the 
verses  of  this  chapter,  from  the  7th  to  the  11th  in- 
clusive. "  If  there  be  among  you  a  poor  man  of 
one  of  thy  brethren,  within  any  of  thy  gates,  in 
thy  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee,  thou 
shalt  not  harden  thy  heart,  nor  shut  thine  hand  from 
thy  poor  brother  :  But  thou  shalt  open  thine  hand 
wide  unto  him,  and  shalt  surely  lend  him  sufficient 
for  his  need,  in  that  which  he  wanteth.  Beware 
that  there  be  not  a  thought  in  thy  wicked  heart, 
saying.  The  seventh  year,  the  year  of  release  is  at 
hand  :  and  thine  eye  be  evil  against  thy  poor  bro 
ther,  and  thou  givest  him  nought,  and  he  cry  unto 
the  Lord  against  thee,  and  it  be  sin  unto  thee. 
Thou  shalt  surely  give  him,  and  thine  heart  shall 
not  be  grieved  when  tliou  givest  unto  him  ;  because 
that  for  this  thing  the  Lord  thy  God  shall  bless  thee 
in  all  thy  works,  and  in  all  that  thou  puttest  thine 
hand  unto.  For  the  poor  shall  never  cease  out  of 
the  land  ;  therefore,  I  command  thee,  saying,  Thou 
shalt  open  thine  hand  wide  unto  thy  brother,  to  thy 
poor  and  to  thy  needy  in  thy  land." 

We  see  that  a  legal  provision  was  made  for  the 


LETTER  VI,  77 

poor  by  the  law  of  God  ;  that  the  Levites  were  to 
have  no  share  in  the  possession  of  the  land  ;  but 
that,  in  fact,  a  tenth  part  of  all  the  produce  of  it 
was  to  be  rendered  to  them  for  the  purposes  of  re- 
ligion, and  for  taking  care  of  the  destitute  poor. 
Innumerable  are  the  passages  of  the  Scripture, 
containing  the  most  dreadful  denunciations  on  those 
who  withhold  relief  from  the  poor ;  who  "  turn 
them  aside  from  their  right."  In  Isaiah,  3  chap- 
ter ;  '•  The  Lord  shall  enter  into  judgment  with  the 
ancients  of  his  people,  and  the  princes  thereof; 
for  ye  have  eaten  up  the  vineyard  ;  and  the  spoil 
of  the  poor  is  in  your  houses.  What  mean  ye  that 
ye  beat  my  people  to  pieces,  and  grind  the  faces  oi 
the  poor  ?"  Again  in  chapter  10.  "  Woe  unto  them 
that  decree  unrighteous  decrees,  and  that  write 
grievousness  which  they  have  prescribed  ;  To  turn 
aside  the  needy  from  judgment,  and  to  take  away 
the  rig-ht  from  the  poor  of  my  people,  that  widows 
may  be  their  prey,  and  that  they  may  rob  the  fa- 
therless." It  would  be  endless  to  cite  passages  of 
the  Scriptures,  enjoining  on  those  who  have  the 
means  to  relieve  the  poor,  the  due  performance  of 
that  duty.  But,  above  all  things,  not  to  oppress 
them,  and  not  to  withhold  from  them  their  right. 
The  dreadful  sentence  pronounced  in  the  20th 
chapter  of  job  ;  the  most  dreadful  sentence,  per- 
haps, that  it  is  possible  for  words  to  pronounce,  is 
as  follows  ?  It  is  a  sentence  pronounced  on  the  rich 
man. 

"Yet  he  shall  perish,  like  his  own  dung  :  they 
which  have  seen  him  shall  say.  Where  is  he  ?  He 
shall  fly  away  as  a  dream,  and  shall  not  be  found  : 
vea,  he  shall  be  chased  away  as  a  vision  of  the 
night.  The  eye  also  which  saw  him  sliall  see  him 
no  more  ;  neither  shall  his  place  any  more  behold 
G2 


78  LETTER    VI. 

him.  His  children  shall  seek  to  please  the  poor, 
and  his  hands  shall  restore  their  goods.  His  bones 
are  full  of  the  sin  of  his  youth,  which  shall  lie 
down  with  him  in  the  dust.  Though  wickedness 
be  sweet  in  his  month,  though  he  hide  it  urtder  his 
tongue  ;  though  he  spare  it,  and  forsake  it  not ;  but 
keep  it  still  within  his  mouth  :  yet  his  meat  in  his 
bowels  is  turned,  it  is  the  gall  of  asps  within  him. 
He  hath  swallowed  down  riches,  and  he  shall  vomit 
them  up  again  :  God  shall  cast  them  out  of  his 
belly.  He  shall  suck  the  poison  of  asps  :  the 
viper's  tongue  shall  slay  him.  He  shall  not  see  the 
rivers,  the  floods,  the  brooks  of  honey  and  butter. 
That  which  he  laboured  for,  shall  he  restore,  and 
shall  not  swallow  it  down  :  according  to  his  sub- 
stance shall  the  restitution  be,  and  he  shall  not  re- 
joice therein." 

And,  what  is  all  this  for?  The  19th  verse  tells 
us  ;  "  because  he  hath  oppressed,  and  \\dii\\  forsaken, 
the  poor  ;  because  he  hath  violently  taken  away  an 
house  which  he  builded  not."  This  is  his  great  of- 
fence :  for  this  he  is  to  suffer  in  ihe  manner  before 
described.  And,  do  we  know  no  country  where 
men  take  away  houses  which  they  have  not  built, 
and  from  which  they  turn  the  poor  wretched  in- 
habitants out  upon  the  bare  ground  ?  The  manner 
in  which  the  poor  are  ill-treated  is  described  in  the 
24th  chapter  of  Job.  Here  we  see  how  tyrant-land- 
lords proceed,  when  the  law  does  intervene  to  pre- 
vent them.  "  They  remove  the  landmarks  ;  they 
violently  take  away  flocks  and  feed  thereof:  they 
drive  away  the  ass  of  the  fatherless,  they  take  the 
widow's  ox  for  a  pledge.  They  turn  the  needy  out 
of  the  way  :  the  poor  of  the  earth  hide  themselves 
together.  Behold,  as  wild  asses  in  the  desert  go 
they  forth  to  their  work,  rising  betimes  for  a  prey : 


LETTER  VI.  79 

the  wilderness  yieldeth  food  for  them,  and  for  their 
children.  They  reap  every  one  his  corn  in  the 
field  :  and  they  gather  the  vintage  of  the  wicked. 
They  cause  the  naked  to  lodire  without  clothing, 
that  they  have  no  covering  in  the  cold.  They  are 
wet  with  the  showers  of  the  mountains,  and  em- 
brace the  rock  for  the  want  of  a  shelter.  They 
pluck  the  fatherless  from  the  breast,  and  take  a 
pledge  of  the  poor.  They  cause  him  to  go  naked 
without  clothing,  and  they  take  away  the  sheaf  from 
the  hungry." 

Horrible  as  this  is,  do  we  know  no  part  of  the 
world  ;  or  rather,  do  we  not  well  know  one  part  of 
the  christian  world,  where  these  acts  are  commit- 
ted ;  not  where  this  is  a  figurative  description  of 
the  acts  committed  ;  but  where  it  is  a  literal  de- 
scription of  that  v/hich  is  done  to  the  poor  ;  where 
this  description  could  be  taken,  and  applied  to  the 
very  acts  that  you  see  taking  place  under  your 
eyes  ?  And,  can  we  know  this  to  be  the  case  ;  and 
are  we  not  to  expect  the  fulfilment  of  the  denunci- 
ations ;  and  are  we  not,  to  say  with  the  prophet 
Amos,  •'  Shall  not  the  land  tremble  for  this  ?"  It 
must  tremble  :  it  does  tremble  ;  and  the  way  to  save 
it  is,  for  us  cordially  to  join,  and  secure  an  atone- 
ment for  acts  like  those  which  are  described  in  this 
eloquent  chapter  of  the  Scripture. 

It  is  impossible,  without  making  a  large  volume, 
even  barely  to  notice  the  divers  passages  in  the 
/Scripture,  all  having  a  tendency  to  this  one  point, 
the  care  of  our  poorer  brethren  ;  a  just  distribution 
of  the  good  things  of  this  world  ;  and,  at  the  same 
time,  the  punishments  which  are  to  fall  upon  na- 
tions, as  well  as  upon  individuals,  if  they  neglect 
this  duty  ;  and,  particularly,  if,  instead  of  cherish- 
ing the  poor,  they  become  oppressors  of  them.  But, 


80  LETTER  VI. 

is  there  not,  from  one  end  to  the  other  of  the  New 
Testament,  line  upon  line,  and  precept  upon  pre- 
cept, establishing  this  point,  that,  without  charity, 
there  is  no  christian  virtue  in  man  :  that  all  pro- 
fessions are  false  ;  that  all  faith,  or  belief,  is  worth- 
less, if  charity  be  absent  ?  And,  what  is  charity  ? 
To  be  sure,  there  may  be  charity  in  one's  thoughts, 
in  one's  wishes,  in  one's  opinions  of  one's  neigh- 
bour ;  but,  by  charity,  in  the  common  acceptation  of 
of  the  word,  as  used  in  the  Gospel  and  the  Epistles, 
is  meant,  feeding  the  hungry,  clothing  the  naked, 
sheltering  the  houseless  ;  and  such  was,  from  the 
very  beginning,  the  principle  which  pervaded  the 
precepts  and  the  conduct  of  the  followers  of  Jesus 
Christ  ;  who  found,  that  unequal  distribution  of 
goods,  which  must  always  exist  in  civil  society  ; 
who  found  instances  of  that  extreme  want,  which 
must  always  prevail  to  some  extent  or  other  ;  and 
they,  following  the  precepts  of  their  divine  Master, 
put  forward  the  care  of  the  poor  and  destitute  as 
the  first  of  christian  virtues. 

A  provision  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  was  begun 
to  be  made  by  the  Apostles  themselves.  They 
collected  alms  ;  they  received  oblations  ;  and  they 
immediately  began,  in  fact,  establishments  for  pro- 
viding a  certainty  of  relief  for  the  poor.  The 
order  of  Deacons  was  created  for  giving  effect  to 
these  their  intentions.  It  was  the  business  of  this 
order  of  men  to  attend  to  the  relieving  of  the  poor  ; 
and,  as  the  church  of  Christ  extended  itself  over 
the  world,  it  every  where  took  care  to  make  effectual 
provision  for  the  wants  of  the  destitute.  Here  in 
England,  the  Common  law  of  the  land  came  in  aid 
of  the  laws  of  the  church.  Roth  together  took  care, 
that  all  the  wants  of  the  poor  should  be  provided 
for.     All  the  numerous    'eligious    establishments, 


LETTER  VI.  81 

abbeys,  priories,  friaries,  nunneries,  hospitals,  and 
even  the  parish  churches  themselvei=.  v/ere  lounded 
in  the  name  Oi,  ana  aedicated  to,  "  the  service  of 
God,  and  the  care  of  the  poor ;"  and  I  defy  all  the 
Malthuses  and  Broughams  upon  the  face  of  the 
earth  to  deny  this  fact.  It  is  of  importance,  how- 
ever, to  establish,  beyond  all  contradiction,  the 
right,  which  the  poor  thus  acquired  and  enjoyed. 

We  have  seen,  in  the  foregoing  letters,  what  is 
the  nature  of  the  right  which  the  landlords  have  to 
the  land  ;  we  have  seen  in  what  manner  they  came 
in  possession  of  them  ;  we  have  seen  the  nature  of 
their  title ;  we  have  seen  that  no  man  has  an  abso- 
lute right  to  any  land  ;  we  have  seen  that  every 
man  holds  his  land  on  certain  conditions,  and  on  the 
consideration  of  the  performance  of  certain  services 
to  the  State.  Well,  now,  let  us  see  whether  the 
lands  be  not  charged  with  the  duty  of  making  cer- 
tain and  infallible  provision  for  the  poor. 

Long  before  the  Norman  conquest  all  the  lands 
were  charged  with  tithes,  out  of  which  tithes  the 
law  required  that  the  poor  should  be  relieved  ;  and 
thus  stood  the  law,  when  the  Norman  Conqueror 
came,  and  made  a  new  and  settled  distribution  of 
the  lands.  The  law  and  the  practice  of  England 
gave  a  third  part  of  all  the  tithes  to  the  poor  ;  and 
gave  them  also  a  very  large  part  of  the  rents  of  the 
lands  belonging  to  the  monasteries  or  religious 
houses.  There  were  then  no  moduses ;  that  is  to 
say,  no  giving  of  a  trifling  sum,  instead  of  the  tithes 
of  a  parish  ;  there  were  then  no  exemptions  from 
the  payment  of  tithes  ;  mills  ;  the  tolls  of  markets  ; 
all  underwoods ;  even  trades,  in  certain  cases, 
yielded  tithes';  so  that  the  amount  of  the  tithes,  in 
proportion  to  the  whole  produce  of  the  country, 
was  very  great ;  and  hence  arose  up  all  the  magni- 


82  LETTER  VI. 

ficent  cathedrals  and  churches,  while   the   poorer 
part  of  the  people  were  taken  excellent  care  of. 

In  this  state  of  things  the  Norman  Conqueror 
came  ;  established  the  feudal  system  ;  made  a  new 
distribution  of  the  lands  ;  or,  granted  them  to  their 
then  possessors.  But,  he  made  no  change  with  re- 
gard to  tithes  :  he  left  all  the  lands  charged  with 
tithes :  the  right  of  the  poor  still  remained  ;  and 
never  was  it  questioned  ;  no  man  ever  dreamt  of 
questioning  it,  until  the  days  which  afflicted  this 
kingdom  with  the  writings  of  the  hard-hearted  Mal- 
THUs,  and  his  merciless  followers  ;  who,  not  seem- 
ing to  recollect  at  all  Moses,  the  prophets,  our  Sa- 
viour, the  Apostles,  and  the  laws  of  our  own  land, 
have  now  the  audacity  to  tell  us,  that  a  legal  and 
certain  provision  for  the  poor  is  a  had  thing ;  that 
the  means  of  protecting  the  aged  and  infirm  are 
mischievous  ;  and  that,  even  hospitals,  charitable 
donations,  and  the  giving  of  alms,  are  injurious  to 
a  nation  ;  and  at  the  head  of  these  disciples  is  that 
Henry  Brougham,  whom  the  king  has  lately  dis- 
missed from  his  councils  and  presence  ;  who  has 
recently  begged  to  be  a. judge,  after  having  been  a 
Lord  Chancellor  ;  who  is  now  sending  silly  crawl- 
ing letters  from  France  ;  and  whose  fate  one  cannot 
think  of,  without  calling  to  mind  the  denunciations 
of  Holy  Writ. 

The  right  of  the  poor  still  remained.  The  land, 
when  newly  granted  out  by  the  Conqueror,  still 
remained  charged  Avith  tithes  ;  and,  if  tithes  were 
now  exactedHo  the  extent  to  which  they  were  ex- 
acted at  that  time,  a  third  part  of  them,  which  third 
part  was  you  will  observe  the  patrimony  of  the 
poor,  would  amount  to  three  times  the  sum,  and 
more  than  three  times  the  sum,  which  is  now  an 
nually  expended  on  the  relief  of  the  poor.     It  foJ 


LETTER  VI.  83 

lows,  then,  of  course,  that  those  who  hold  the  lands 
now,  hold  them  upon  condition  of  giving  out  of 
them  a  sufficiency  for  the  relief  of  the  poor ;  and 
that,  therefore,  they  cannot,  legally,  so  use  their 
lands  as  to  cause  the  natives  to  perish  of  hunger  or 
of  cold.  The  law  and  practice  of  England,  in  this 
respect,  continued  to  be  the  same  from  the  Norman 
conquest  down  to  what  is  called  the  Reformation, 
when  the  Protestant  religion  was  substituted 
for  that  of  the  Catholic  ;  and  here  there  is  some- 
thing very  material  for  us  to  notice  ;  because  this 
prescriptive  right  is  now  denied  by  those  who  would, 
as  they  call  it,  throw  the  poor  upon  their  "  own 
resources ;"  of  which  throwing  on  their  oivn  re- 
sources I  shall  speak  more  fully  by-and-by.  Long 
before  the  Reformation,  even  the  Statute-law 
came  in  aid  of  the  Canon,  and  of  the  Common,  law, 
in  support  of  this  right  of  the  poor  ;  and  this  in- 
tervention of  the  Statute-law  became  necessary,  in 
consequence  of  the  circumstances  which  I  am  now 
about  to  state,  and  to  which  I  beg  you,  the  work- 
ing people  of  England,  to  pay  particular  attention. 
Baron  Gilbert,  in  his  "  Lain  of  the  Common 
Pleas,^^  describes  the  Catholic  distribution  of  tithes 
in  the  following  words  : — "  The  revenues  of  the 
church,  consisting  of  various  descriptions  of  tithes, 
were  divided  thus  :  one  third  part  was  taken  by  the 
priest,  as  his  own  ;  another  third  part  was  applied 
to  the  relief  of  the  poor  ;  and  the  other  third  part 
to  the  building  and  repairing  of  the  church."  Now, 
is  there  any  one  who  has  ever  been  worthy  of  the 
name  of  lawyer,  who  will  deny  that  this  book 
which  I  have  quoted  is  a  book  of  unquestionable 
authority  with  all  lawyers  and  all  judges  ?  I,  there- 
fore, assert,  and  have  thus  proved,  that  such  was 


84  LETTER    VI. 

the  law  of  the  church,  and  the  common  law  of  the 
land. 

But,  the  statute  law  comes  to  confirm  this  ;  comes 
incidentally,  but  comes  with  force  irresistible.  Af- 
ter the  monasteries  grew  up  and  had  so  much  power 
in  England,  innumerable  patrons  of  livings  gave 
the  advowsons  to  the  monasteries,  instead  of  keep- 
ing them  in  their  own  hands,  or  leaving  them  to 
their  heirs.  The  monasteries,  become  owners  of 
the  advowsons,  did  not,  in  many  cases,  give  the 
livings  to  parish  priests  ;  but  sent  some  one  of  their 
own  order  into  each  of  the  livings  to  perform  the 
duty,  leaving  him  the  small  tithes,  and  taking  the 
great  tithes  to  themselves.  The  priest  thus  sent  by 
the  monasteries  was  called  a  vicar,  from  the  Latin 
word  vicarius,  which  means  a  person  deputed,  or 
delegated,  to  act  in  the  place  of  another:  and  from 
this  came  the  vicarages  in  England. 

In  consequence  of  the  above-described  applica 
tion  of  the  tithes,  it  frequently  happened  that  the 
monasteries  took  away  the  great  tithes,  and  did  not 
leave  the  vicar  enough  for  his  own  sustenance,  the 
repairing  of  the  church,  and  the  relieving  of  the 
poor.  In  consequence  of  this,  an  act  was  passed, 
in  the  15  of  Richard  II.,  to  compel  the  monaste- 
ries, to  leave  a  sufficiency  for  the  relief  of  the  poor, 
"in  aid  of  their  living  and  sustenance  for  ever."  I 
will  quote  the  whole  act,  which  is  quite  complete. 

"Item,  Because  divers  damages  and  hinderances 
often  times  have  happened,  and  daily  do  happen,  to 
the  parishioners  of  divers  places,  it  is  agreed  and 
assented.  That  in  every  license  from  henceforth  to 
be  made  in  the  Chancery,  of  the  appropriation  of 
any  parish  church,  it  shall  be  expressly  contained 
and  comprised,  that  the  diocesan  of  the  place,  upon 
the  appropriation  of  such  churches,  shall  ordain, 


LETTER  VI.  85 

according  to  the  value  of  such  churches,  a  convex 
nient  sum  of  money  to  he  paid  and  distributed 
yearly,  of  the  fruits  and  profits  of  the  same 
churches,  by  those  that  shall  have  the  said  churches 
in  proper  use,  and  by  their  successors,   to  the 

POOR  PARISHIONERS  OF  THE  SAID  CHURCHES,  IN 
AID  OF  THEIR  LIVING  AND  SUSTENANCE  FOR   EVER  ; 

and  also  that  the  vicar  be  well  and  sufficiently  en- 
dowed.''^ 

Thus  stood  the  matter  until  the  Reformation  ; 
another  Act  having  been  passed  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  the  Fourth,  to  enforce  the  Act  just 
quoted.  The  Reformation  took  away  the  great 
tithes,  as  well  as  the  rents,  from  the  monasteries, 
and  gave  them  to  the  king,  who  gave  them  to  indi- 
viduals ;  but  no  Act  of  Parliament  which  was  pass- 
ed at  that  time,  and  no  Act  of  Parliament  that  has 
ever  been  passed  since,  until  the  "  Poor-law  Amend- 
went  Bill"  was  passed,  has  ever  taken  away,  or  in 
any  degree  enfeebled,  the  right  of  the  poor,  as  re- 
cognised by  all  the  laws  which  subsisted,  and  were 
in  full  force,  up  to  that  time  ;  and  the  Act  of  Rich- 
ard the  Second  is  law  unto  this  day.  But  the 
change  of  religion,  and  the  transfer  of  the  tithes, 
and  of  the  estates  of  the  monasteries,  caused  the 
tithe-owners,  and  the  new  abbey-land-holders,  to 
neglect  this  sacred  part  of  their  duty,  the  relieving 
of  the  poor.  They  cast  aside  this  duty  by  degrees  ; 
the  people  complained  of  this  robbery  committed 
upon  them  ;  and,  after  numerous  vain  attempts  to 
induce  the  tithe-owners  and  the  abbey-landlords  to 
do  their  duty  towards  the  poor,  an  Act  of  Parlia- 
ment was  passed  in  the  43d  year  of  Elizabeth, 
providing  effectually  for  their  relief,  by  parochial 
rates,  and  by  the  appointment  of  overseers  to  super- 
intend the  collection  and  distribution  of  those  rates  ; 
H 


86  LETTER  VI. 

and  this  law  continued  in  force  ;  and  a  happy  and 
kind  people  lived  under  it  for  nearly  two  hundred 
years,  till  a  "  reformed  Parliament"  met ;  till  there 
was  an  Althorp  to  bring  the  Poor-law  Amend- 
ment Bill  into  the  House  of  Commons,  and  a 
Brougham  to  brin^  it  into  the  House  of  Lords. 

You  will  perceive,  that  this  Act  of  Elizabeth 
provided  no  gift  to  the  poor  :  it  only  gave  them, 
in  another  shape,  that  which  the  christian  religion, 
and  the  law  of  the  land,  had  given  them  before  :  it 
only  exacted  from  the  land  that  which  the  land  was 
charged  with,  at  the  time  of  the  Norman  conquest; 
and  which,  indeed,  it  had  always  been  charged 
with,  from  the  time  that  England  was  first  called 
England.  The  poor-rates  were  no  more  than  a 
compensation  for  what  had  been  withheld  from  the 
people  by  the  injustice  of  the  Protestant  clergy  and 
the  landlords  :  it  was  only  giving  ihem,  under  an- 
other name,  under  another  form,  and  in  another 
manner,  that  which  they  had  before  received  out  of 
the  tithes,  and  out  of  the  rents  of  the  Abbey-lands, 
and  to  which  they  had  a  much  older,  and  a  much 
clearer  title,  than  any  man  had,  or  has,  to  his  land- 
ed estate. 

Thus,  then,  according  to  the  principles  of  natural 
justice,  according  to  the  practice  of  men,  in  a  state 
of  nature,  and  without  any  law  whatever,  either  of 
God  or  of  man  to  guide  them ;  according  to  the 
express  and  incessantly  reiterated  commands  of 
God,  in  both  the  Testaments  :  and  according  to  the 
laws  of  England.  Canon-law,  Common-law,  Statute- 
law,  laws  made  by  Protestants,  as  well  as  laws 
made  by  Catholics,  right  to  relief  in  the  destitute  is 
acknowledged  ;  universally  acknowledged;  the  prac- 
tice upon  this  principle  has  been  unvarying ;  and 
our  Poor-law  has  really  and  truly  been  the  glor>^  of 


LETTER    VI.  87 

the  country,  and  the  admiration  of  the  world.  The 
Americans,  when  they  made  their  revolution, 
though  they  cast  off  the  kingly  part  of  our  govern- 
ment ;  though  they  cast  off  the  aristocratical  part 
of  it;  though  they  cast  off  the  Church  part  of  it, 
took  special  care  to  preserve  this  part  of  it.  Let, 
then,  the  hard-hearted  wretches,  who  would  now 
abrogate  it  in  England,  put  forward  at  the  same 
time,  their  pretensions  to  a  love  of  liberty ;  and  let 
the  names  of  the  merciless  hypocrites  stand  accurs- 
ed in  our  Calendar. 

But,  is  this  all,  that  is  to  be  said  in  defence  of  this 
right  of  the  poor,  and  in  denial  of  the  right  of  the 
landlords,  so  to  use  their  lands  as  to  cause  the  na- 
tives to  perish  of  hunger,  or  of  cold  ?  Oh,  no ! 
There  is  a  great  deal  more  to  be  said  than  this. 
We  have  yet  to  hear  what  great  and  wise  men,  re- 
garded as  authorities  by  all  the  world,  have  to  say 
upon  this  subject ;  and  amongst  others,  our  own 
great  lawyer,  Blackstone  ;  Dr.  Paley,  an  arch- 
deacon of  the  church  ;  Hale,  one  of  the  greatest 
lawyers  that  ever  lived,  and  one  of  the  most  just  of 
judges;  Montesquieu,  a  very  great  authority; 
Locke,  cited  everlastingly  for  his  sound  doctrines 
on  government.  I  shall  have  afterwards  to  show 
you,  that,  if  the  principles,  upon  which  the  "  Poor- 
law  Amendment  Bill"  has  been  defended,  were 
sound,  (as  they  are  not,)  there  would  be  no  good  ti- 
tle to  any  property,  of  any  species,  in  the  kingdom  ; 
and  that  the  law  of  allegiance  would  be  something 
worse  than  an  absurdity.  But,  I  will  first  refer  to 
the  authorities  before  mentioned.  Blackstone 
(book  L  chap.  1)  says,  "  The  law  not  only  regards 
life  and  member,  and  protects  every  man  in  the  en- 
joyment of  them ;  but  also  furnishes  him  with 
every  thing  necessary  for  their  support.    For  there 


88  LETTER  VI. 

is  no  man  so  indigent  or  wretched,  but  he  may  de- 
mand a  supply  sufficient  for  all  the  necessities  of 
life  from  the  more  opulent  part  of  the  community, 
by  means  of  the  several  statutes  enacted  for  the 
relief  of  the  poor  :  a  humane  provision,  dictated  by 
the  principles  of  society." 

Hale  ("  Pleas  of  the  Crown,'"  chap.  9)  says 
that,  "  the  laws  of  this  kingdom  make  sufficient 
provision  for  the  supply  of  persons  in  necessity,  by 
collections  for  the  poor,  and  by  the  powers  of  the 
civil  magistrates,  and  that  the  Act  of  Elizabeth  has 
reduced  charity  to  a  system,  and  interwoven  it  with 
our  very  constitution.''''  It  follows,  of  course,  that, 
if  you  abrogate  this  law,  you  abrogate  the  consti- 
tution altogether.  It  is  useless  to  attempt  to  blink 
this,  by  saying  that  you  do  not  meddle  with  this 
law  of  Elizabeth;  for,  if  you  take  the  power  of 
relieving  out  of  the  hands  of  the  overseer;  or  if 
you  cause  him  to  be  a  person  hired  and  brought 
from  a  distance  ;  if  you  do  these  things,  you  do  ab- 
rogate the  Act :  and  this  is  only  a  small  part  of 
what  is  done  by  the  Poor-Law  Amendment  Bill. 

Dr.  Paley,  in  his  "  Moral  Philosophy,"''  a  book 
of  very  great  authority,  has  the  following  passage, 
which  you  will  find  in  perfect  accordance  with  all 
the  principles  laid  down  in  this,  and  in  the  forego- 
ing Letters.  "  The  poor  have  a  claim  founded  in 
the  law  of  nature,  which  may  be  thus  explained  : — 
All  things  were  originally  common.  No  one  being 
able  to  produce  a  charter  from  heaven,  had  any 
better  title  to  a  particular  possession  than  his  next 
neighbour.  There  are  reasons  for  mankind  agree- 
ing upon  a  separation  of  this  common  fund  :  God, 
for  these  reasons,  is  presumed  to  have  ratified  it. 
But  this  separation  was  made  and  consented  to, 
upon  the  expectation  and  condition  that  every  one 


LETTER  VI.  09 

should  have  left  a  sufficiency  for  his  subsistence,  or 
the  means  of  procuring  it ;  and  as  no  fixed  laws 
for  the  regulations  of  property  can  be  so  contrived 
as  to  provide  for  the  relief  of  every  case  of  distress 
which  may  arise.  These  cases  and  distresses,  when 
their  right  and  share  in  the  common  stock  was 
given  up  or  taken  from  them,  were  supposed  to  be 
left  to  the  voluntary  bounty  of  those  who  might  be 
acquainted  with  the  exigencies  of  their  situation, 
and  in  the  way  of  affording  assistance  :  and  there- 
fore, when  the  partition  of  property  is  rigidly 
maintained  against  the  claims  of  indigence  and  dis- 
tress, it  is  maintained  in  opposition  to  the  intention 
of  those  who  made  it,  and  to  his,  who  is  the  su- 
preme Proprietor  of  every  thing,  and  who  has  filled 
the  world  with  plenteousness  for  the  sustentation 
and  comfort  of  all  v.hom  he  sends  into  it." No- 
thing can  be  more  just  and  reasonable  than  this  ; 
and  it  must  be  a  monster,  or  something  next  to  a 
monster,  to  call  its  reasonableness  into  question. 
Mr.  Butler  Bryan,  who,  in  his  "  Practical  View 
of  Ireland,''''  after  making  this  quotation  from  Pa- 
LEV,  observes,  "  that  the  right  of  the  poor  to  sup- 
port, and  the  right  of  the  rich  to  engross,  are  co- 
relative,  and  reciprocal  privileges  :  the  former 
being  the  condition  on  which  the  latter  is  enjoyed  ;" 
than  which  nothing  can  be  truer,  nothing  more  evi- 
dent to  any  but  a  corrupted  and  merciless  mind. 

Montesquieu  gives  excellent  reasons.  After 
stating  that  a  man  ought  not  to  be  called  poor, 
merely  because  he  has  neither  land,  nor  house,  nor 
goods  ;  that  his  labour  is  property  ;  that  it  is  better 
than  an  annuity ;  that  the  mechanic  who  gives  his 
art  to  his  children  has  left  them  a  fortune,  and  a 
better  fortune  than  a  few  acres  of  land  divided 
amongst  them  :  after  having  thus  premised  ;  and 
H2 


90  LETTER  VI. 

further  stated,  that  a  government  draws  its  support 
from  the  labour  of  the  people,  he  comes  home  to  the 
question  before  us,  and  says,  "  the  state  is  bound  to 
supply  the  necessities  of  the  aged,  the  sick,  and  the 
orphan.  Those  alms,  which  are  given  to  a  naked 
man  in  the  streets,  do  not  fulfil  the  ohligations  of 
the  state,  which  owes  to  every  citizen  a  certain 
subsistence.  The  riches  of  a  state  arise  from  the 
labour  of  the  people.  Amidst  the  numerous 
branches  of  trade,  it  is  impossible  but  some  must 
suffer  ;  and,  consequently,  the  mechanics  must  be 
in  a  momentary  necessity.  Therefore,  the  state 
owes  to  every  citizen  a  proper  nourishment,  conve- 
nient clothing,  and  a  kind  of  life  not  incompatible 
with  health." 

It  must  be  a  monster  in  human  shape,  to  deny 
the  justice  and  reasonableness  of  this  ;  and  it  was 
reserved  for  the  monster  Malthus,  to  suggest  to 
English  landlords  the  setting  of  all  these  authori- 
ties at  defiance.  But,  we  may  be  told,  perhaps, 
that  the  poor-law  amendment  bill  does  not  deny 
relief  altogether.  Yes  ;  but  it  enables  the  Govern- 
ment arbitrarily  to  prescribe  such  conditions,  as  to 
make  it  impossible  that  a  man  should  not  sufler 
death  by  starvation,  rather  than  accept  of  any  re- 
lief so  tendered  him  ;  it  tenders  him  relief  upon 
such  terms,  that  he  must  become  the  vilest  of 
slaves  before  he  can  obtain  it.  And,  now,  let  us  hear 
Mr.  Locke  upon  this  subject,  and  upon  the  subject 
of  the  right  of  the  landlord,  so  to  use  their  lands 
as  to  cause  the  nations  to  perish  of  hunger  or  of 
cold.  "  We  know  that  God  has  not  left  one  man 
so  to  the  mercy  of  another,  that  he  may  starve 
him,  if  he  please.  God,  the  Lord  and  Father  of 
all,  has  given  no  one  of  his  children  such  a  pro- 
perty in  his  peculiar  portion  of  the  things  of  this 


LETTER  VI.  91 

world,  but  that  he  has  given  his  needy  brother  a 
right  to  the  surplusage  of  his  goods  ;  so  that  it  can- 
not justly  be  denied  him,  when  his  pressing  wants 
call  for  it ;  and,  therefore,  no  man  could  ever  have 
a  just  power  over  the  life  of  another  by  right  of 
property  in  land  or  possessions  ;  since  it  would  al- 
ways be  a  sin  in  any  man  of  estate,  to  let  his  bro- 
ther perish  for  want  of  affording  him  relief  out  of 
h-is  plenty.  As  justice  gives  every  man  a  title  to 
the  product  of  his  honest  industry,  and  the  fair 
acquisitions  of  his  ancestors  descended  to  him  ;  so 
charity  gives  every  man  a  title  to  so  much  out  of 
another's  plenty  as  will  keep  him  from  extreme 
want,  where  he  has  no  means  to  subsist  otherwise : 
and  a  man  can  no  more  make  use  of  another's  ne- 
cessity to  force  him  to  become  his  vassal,  by  with- 
holding that  relief  which  God  requires  him  to  af- 
ford to  the  wants  of  his  brother,  than  he  that  has 
more  strength  can  seize  upon  a  weaker,  master  him 
to  his  obedience,  and,  with  a  dagger  at  his  throat, 
offer  him  death  or  slavery.'^ 

Thus,  then,  if  the  government  give  p^ower  to 
Commissioners,  to  make  it  as  "  irksome"  as  pos- 
sible to  the  destitute  to  obtain  relief:  if  it  be  not 
to  be  obtained  without  close  imprisonment  in  a 
workhouse,  at  a  great  distance  from  the  house  of 
the  poor  person  ;  if  the  necessitous  man  be  com- 
pelled to  submit  to  wear  a  workhouse-dress  ;  if  he 
be  wholly  separated  from  his  wife,  night  and  day ; 
if  their  children  be  wholly  separated  from  them 
both ;  if  they  be  cut  off  from  all  communication  of 
every  sort  with  friends  outside  of  the  prison  ;  if  no 
one  can  possibly  come  to  claim  their  bodies,  if  they 
should  die  ;  and  if,  in  case  of  death,  a  hired  over- 
seer brought  from  a  distance,  have  the  pov/er  to 
dispose  of  their  bodies  for  dissection  :  if  all  this  be 


93  LETTER  VI. 

SO,  have  we  not  before  us  tlie  very  case,  which  Mr. 
Locke  supposes  ;  have  we  not  before  us  that,  which 
amounts  to  offering  a  man  death  or  slavery? 

I  could  go  on  citing  authorities,  but  it  is  wholly 
unnecessary.  And,  I  shall  now  come  to  what  is 
the  main  thing  of  all ;  that  is  to  say,  to  show,  that, 
if  you  maintain  that  the  poor  have  no  right,  no  le- 
gal right,  to  relief,  you  loosen  all  the  ligaments  of 
property  ;  and  begin  that  career,  wliicli  must  end  in 
a  contest  for  property  between  the  poor  and  the 
rich  :  you  loosen  all  the  bonds  of  allegiance  ;  you 
get  rid  of  all  its  duties  ;  you  proclaim  that  might, 
and  not  right,  is  to  prevail;  and,  in  short,  you  do 
all  in  your  power  to  break  up  the  social  compact ; 
to  produce  confusion  ;  and  to  leave  to  chance  a 
settlement  anew. 

AVe  have  seen,  in  the  foregoing  Letters,  that  the 
duty  of  allegiance  implies  the  reciprocal  duty  of 
protection  ;  and  we  have  noAV  seen,  that  it  is  the 
duty  of  a  state  to  give  protection  to  all  the  citizens, 
or  persons,  living  under  it,  and  owing  it  allegiance. 
Not  onl^"  protection  against  violences  committed 
against  the  property,  or  the  person  of  a  man  :  not 
only  protection  against  assaults,  arsons,  and  rob- 
beries;  but  against  hunger,  nakedness,  and  all 
those  things  Avhich  expose  life  and  limb  to  danger. 
This  protection  is  a  condition  inseparable  from  the 
duty  of  allegiance  ;  and,  if  the  condition  be  not  ob- 
served, the  bond  in  this,  as  in  all  other  cases,  is  for- 
feited. When  a  man  commits  treason,  or  rebellion, 
his  crime  consists,  not  in  the  act  itself;  but  in  this, 
that  the  act  is  contrary  to  his  bond  of  allegiance. 
Protection  is  essential  to  the  force  of  that  bond ; 
and,  therefore,  how  ought  men  to  tremble  at  the 
idea ;  how  fearful  ought  to  be  the  thought,  in   the 


LETTER  VI. 


mind  of  a  statesman  in  particular,  of  suffering 
landlords  so  to  act,  as  to  take  away  this  protection. 

The  laws  of  this  country  have,  for  several  hun- 
dreds of  years,  and,  indeed,  always,  given  to  the 
king,  as  chief  magistrate  of  the  nation,  the  power 
to  forbid,  at  his  pleasure,  any  one,  or  more,  of  his 
subjects  to  quit  the  kingdom  ;  and,  at  his  pleasure, 
to  order  any  one,  or  more,  of  them,  who  happen 
to  be  abroad,  to  return  into  the  kingdom  ;  and  this, 
too,  upon  pain  of  fine  and  imprisonment  in  case  of 
disobedience.  The  same  thing  has  been  frequently 
done  by  act  of  parliament ;  and  such  an  act  was  in 
force  a  very  little  while  ago  ;  and  may  be  in  force 
again,  whenever  the  king  and  parliament  shall 
please.  It  was  in  force  in  1817 ;  and  I,  being  on 
board  of  ship,  at  Liverpool,  going  to  America, 
saw  TWO  ARTIFICERS  dragged  out  from  under  some 
sails  where  they  had  hidden  themselves  ;  brought 
on  shore,  and  compelled  to  remain  on  shore. 

Now  this  is  very  old  law.  It  existed  in  the  time 
of  Edward  the  First  ;  and  the  ground  of  it  was 
that  such  artificers  might  "  instruct  and  assist  fo- 
reigners to  rival  us  in  our  several  trades  and  manu- 
factures." This  law  continued  unbroken  down  to  the 
time  of  Edward  the  Third  ;  in  the  next  reign  there 
w^as  an  exception  made  in  favour  of  lords  and  other 
great  men,  and  great  merchants.  In  the  reign  of 
•James  the  First  this  act  was  repealed  ;  and  I  find 
no  renewal  of  it  till  the  reign  of  George  the  Third. 
It  was  repealed  again  in  the  reign  of  George  the 
Fourth,  but  may  be  re-enacted  again  any  day.  But, 
what  an  unjust,  what  a  barbarous,  what  a  tyranni- 
cal, what  an  infamous  law  is  this,  and  how  well  do 
all  those  epithets  apply  to  the  power  which  the  king 
has,  if  we,  with  the   monster  Malthus,  and   his 


94  LETTER  VI. 

disciples,  contend  that  the  destitute  have  no  legal 
right  to  relief  from  the  community  ! 

Look,  if  you  have  patience,  at  the  possible,  and 
even  probable,  condition  of  every  English  artificer, 
if  you  deprive  him  of  this  legal  right  to  relief !  He 
cannot  earn  a  sufficiency  to  maintain  his  family  in 
England.  He  comes  to  you,  and  demands  assist- 
ance to  preserve  the  life  and  health  of  himself  and 
family.  You  refuse  him  ;  or,  you  offer  it  him  on 
condition  that  he  wear  the  workhouse  dress,  be  se- 
parated from  A^e  and  children,  be  cut  off  from 
friends  and  relatives,  with  chance  of  the  bodies 
of  all  the  family  being  disposed  for  dissection. 
Thus  placed  between  starvation  and  the  most  base 
of  all  slavery  ;  and  knowing,  not  only  that  he  can 
earn,  in  America,  sufficient  wages  to  keep  his  fa- 
mily ;  but  that,  if  he  there  chance  to  fall  into  similar 
want  that  has  come  upon  him  in  England,  the  law 
will  give  him  and  his  family  support,  leaving  them 
at  liberty  at  the  same  time,  and  leaving  them  to 
inter  the  bodies  of  one  another,  if  they  die  ;  or 
giving  them  the  assurance  that  those  bodies  will 
have  decent  Christian  burial,  and  will  not  be  dis- 
posed of  for  dissection.  Thus  placed,  the  English 
artificer  sells  his  little  all,  begs  the  remainder  from 
his  friends,  or  from  charitable  persons  ;  and  gets 
on  board  of  ship  in  order  to  get  out  of  the  reach 
of  Sturges  Bourne,  two  thousand-a-year  Lewis, 
and  penny-a-line  Chadw^ick.  Your  officers  at  the 
port  seize  him  ;  bring  him  back  to  the  land  ;  cast 
him  down  upon  it,  and  there  leave  him  ! 

Why,  the  bare  thought  fills  one  with  indignation 
approaching  to  fury  !  What  is  a  government  to  ex- 
pect, when  it  places  before  the  working  people 
conditions  like  these,  of  being  suffered  to  live  ? 
W^hat  is  the  ground  upon  which   the  artificer  is 


LETTER  VL  95 

forcibly  detained  in  the  kingdom  ?  Why,  that,  by 
going  out  of  it,  he  communicates  to  other  nations 
the  art  which  he  has  learnt  in  it,  and  thereby  does 
an  injury  to  his  native  country.  Upon  the  same 
ground  every  one  is  forbidden  to  go  to  an  enemy's 
country  during  war.  These  grounds  are  tenable, 
if  you  make  legal  provision,  according  to  the  doc- 
trine of  Montesquieu,  "  that  the  State  owes  to 
every  citizen  a  proper  nourishment,  convenient 
clothing,  and  a  kind  of  life  not  incompatible  with 
health."  But,  if  you  deny  this  nourishment  in 
case  of  need  ;  if  you  make  no  legal  provision  for 
the  supplying  of  it,  you  exercise  the  most  hateful 
of  tyranny  in  insisting  on  the  right  of  the  State  to 
retain  a  man  in  his  native  country. 

Thus,  away  goes  another  part  of  the  social  com- 
pact :  away  goes  another  of  the  ligaments  of  civil 
society.  And,  does  not  the  duty  of  defending  one^s 
country  in  arms  go  away  also  ?  The  king,  or  chief 
of  the  commonwealth,  has  an  undoubted  right  to 
call  out  all  the  people  capable  of  bearing  arms  to 
defend  the  country ;  or  to  defend  himself  and  the 
laws,  in  the  case  of  internal  commotion  ;  whether 
he  do  this  by  his  other  officers,  or  by  the  sheriffs, 
or  magistrates.  To  refuse  to  come  forth  is  a  crime 
punishable  by  law ;  and  it  is  so  upon  the  ground, 
that  the  State  yields  protection  to  every  man  :  not 
only  secures  to  him  the  enjoyment  of  life  and  limb, 
but  secures  to  him,  in  case  of  his  necessity,  a  suf- 
ficiency of  food  and  raiment  and  lodging,  compati- 
ble not  only  w^ith  life  but  with  health  ;  and  these 
things  it  provides  for  him,  on  the  ground,  as  Black- 
stone  states  it,  that  the  provision  is  founded  in  the 
principle  of  civil  society  ;  to  which  ground  also  it 
is  traced  by  all  the  other  great  authorities  before 
cited.    But,  will  you  exact  this  duty  from  the  work- 


96  LETTER  VI. 

ing  man,  and  deny  him  that  protection  which  is  the 
foundation  of  the  duty  ?  Will  you  be  guilty  of  the 
monstrous  tyranny  to  punish  a  man  as  a  traitor,  or 
a  deserter,  because  he  refuses  to  risk  his  life  in  up- 
holding a  state  of  things,  which,  in  case  of  extreme 
poverty,  leaves  him  no  choice  but  that  of  death,  or 
slavery ;  and  that,  too,  a  slavery  worse  than  death! 

We  have  seen,  in  Letter  II.,  that  service  in  arms, 
for  defence  of  the  king  and  the  commonwealth,  was 
due  from  the  landed  estates ;  and  that,  when  the 
king  called  upon  them  for  the  purpose,  it  was  the 
duty  of  the  landlords  to  come  out  in  arms  them- 
selves, and  to  bring  out  their  tenants,  at  their  own 
expense.  This  was  perfectly  just ;  because  they 
held  the  lands  on  this  condition.  We  have  seen, 
in  the  same  Letter  II.,  how  Cromw^ell  and  his  crew- 
released  the  landlords  from  this  duty.  But,  there 
was  military  force  occasionally  still  necessary  ;  and, 
by  degrees,  this  duty  has  been  wholly  shaken  off  by 
the  landlords,  and  cast  entirely  upon  the  working 
people  :  shifted  from  the  land,  and  laid  upon  the 
labour. 

However,  the  duty  of  rendering  this  service  to 
the  State  must  now  rest  upon  the  militia-man's 
claim,  in  case  of  need,  to  share  in  the  fruits  of  the 
land;  for,  if  that  ground  be  wanting,  how  are  we 
to  denominate  the  act  of  compelling  him  to  per- 
form such  duty,  on  pain  of  sukermg,  flogging,  or 
death  ?  What !  tell  him,  in  the  words  of  Malthus 
and  Brougham  (for  Brougham  applauds  all  the 
sentiments  of  Malthus  :)  tell  him,  that  he  has,  in 
case  of  his  utmost  extremity,  "  no  claim  upon  the 
community  for  even  the  smallest  portion  of  food  ;" 
and  tell  him,  the  next  moment,  that  it  is  his  duty  to 
come  forth  and  venture  his  life  in  defence  of  that 
community  :  tell  him,  that  he  has  no  claim  whatso- 


LETTER  VI.  97 

ever  on  the  fruits  of  the  land,  even  to  save  his  life ; 
and  tell  him,  the  next  minute,  that  it  is  his  duty  to 
hazard  that  life  in  defence  of  that  land  ! 

Why,  words  are  useless  in  such  a  case  :  the  bare 
pronouncing  of  them  makes  the  blood  fry  in  one's 
veins  :  vengeful  feelings  rush  forward  and  choke 
the  voice  of  indignant  abhorrence. 

Away  then  goes  another  tie  :  another  great  duty 
enjoined  by  the  laws.  Nor  are  we  to  stop  here. 
You  insist  that  the  working  man  is  rightfully  called 
upon  to  pay  TAXES.  And  you  now,  at  this  time, 
take  from  a  working  man  eleven  pounds  seven  shil- 
lings and  sevenpence  a  year,  out  of  twenty-two 
pounds  ten  shillings,  as  is  very  clearly  proved  in 
the  "  Agricultural  and  Industrial  Magazine,^^  puh- 
lished  and  circulated  under  the  authority  of  twenty- 
one  members  of  parliament,  all  of  whom,  except  two 
or  three,  are  great  landlords.  Upon  what  ground, 
then,  do  these  members  of  parliament  suffer  the 
working  man  thus  to  be  taxed?  Why,  that  he,  as 
well  as  they,  stands  in  need  of  the  State  to  secure 
him  in  the  enjoyment  of  whatever  he  may  possess 
or  may  earn.  He  has  no  possessions  but  those  of 
life  and  limb,  which  no  conqueror,  no  usurper,  no 
rebel,  ever  did,  or  ever  will,  think  of  taking  away 
from  him.  Oh,  yes  !  he  has  the  further  possession 
of  a  right  to  demand  of  the  State,  in  case  of  neces- 
sity, a  sufficiency  to  support  this  life  and  limb^  by 
affording  him  every  thing  necessary  and  convenient 
to  the  maintenance  of  health  as  well  as  life.  This 
is  the  ground  upon  which  you  tax  him  ;  and  what 
becomes  of  this  ground,  if,  in  case  of  his  hard  ne- 
cessity, you  tender  him  "  a  coarser  sort  of  diet,^^ 
a  workhouse  dress,  a  cutting  off  from  wife,  children, 
and  friends,  and  a  dissection  of  his  body  at  death  ; 
if,  in  short,  your  protection  amounts,  as  Mr.  Locke 
I 


98  LETTER  TI. 

calls  it,  to  an  offer  of  death  or  slavery  ?  And,  thus 
away  goes  another  of  the  duties  of  the  subject  or 
the  citizen. 

We  now  approach  the  most  dangerous  of  all  the 
consequences  of  denying  the  right  of  relief  to  the 
indigent ;  namely,  that  of  letting  indigent  persons 
loose  to  help  themselves  to  what  they  want ;  and 
here  we  come  to  derive  profit  from  all  that  we  have 
hitherto  seen  in  this  little  book,  relative  to  the 
origin  of  property ;  the  title  to  property  ;  the  ex- 
tent of  the  uses  of  property  ;  and  the  right  to  pre- 
vent others  from  participating,  if  they  choose,  in 
the  enjoyment  of  any  property  that  we  may  hold. 

The  hard-hearted  and  blasphemous  wretches  who 
deny  the  right  of  the  poor  ;  who,  with  the  brutal 
and  pensioned  Parson  Malthus,  would  tell  the 
destitute  working  man,  that  "  he  has  no  claim  upon 
the  community  for  even  the  smallest  portion  oj 
food ;"  these  wretches  say,  that  the  poor  working 
people  ought  to  be  "  thrown  on  their  own  re- 
sources ;"  a  phrase  everlastingly  in  their  mouths. 
When  I  made  a  motion  for  throwing  the  pensioned 
relations  of  lords,  baronets  and  'squires,  upon  their 
own  resources,  instead  of  taxing  the  working  peo- 
ple to  support  them  ;  when  I  did  this,  the  ''  reform- 
ed House  of  Commons  negatived  my  motion  by 
twenty  to  one.'' 

But,  what  is  meant  by  their  own  resources  1  Do 
you  throw  them  on  their  own  resources-,  when  you 
prevent  them  from  quitting  the  kingdom  to  better 
their  lot  ?  Do  you  throw  them  upon  their  own  re- 
sources when  you  compel  them  to  come  out  and 
serve  in  the  militia  to  defend  the  land  or  the  king  ; 
to  quit  their  employments  ;  to  leave  behind  them 
their  aged  parents,  and  their  helpless  children  and 
wives  ;  and  to  risk  their  lives  into  the  bargain  ?  Do 


LETTER  VI.  99 

you  throw  them  upon  their  own  resources  when  you 
take  from  each  working  man  taxes  to  the  amount 
of  one  half  of  his  earnings,  to  be  given  to  what  you 
call  the  support  of  the  state  ;  when  you  lay  this 
burden  upon  the  child  in  the  cradle  for  his  life,  and 
for  the  lives  of  his  children,  to  pay  the  interest  of 
debts,  contracted  long  before  the  present  working 
man  himself  was  born  ?  Do  you  call  this  "  throwing 
a  working  man  upon  his  own  resources  .^" 

This  is  a  most  dangerous  saying  :  it  leads  directly 
to  the  most  dangerous  of  consequences  :  it  sends 
the  minds  of  men  back  to  the  state  of  nature  ;  to 
discuss  all  the  principles  of  natural  justice  ;  and  to 
arrive  at  last,  at  a  conclusion  which  leaves  the 
word  property  (the  rights  of  which  ought  to  be  held 
sacred  next  after  that  of  life  and  limb)  a  word  with- 
out meaning  !  This  is  the  matter  most  worthy  of 
the  attention  of  legislators  ;  and  it  comes  at  last  to 
this  short  proposition:  "that  a  man,  in  a  state  of 
extreme  necessity,  has  a  right  to  use  another'' s  pro- 
perty, when  it  is  necessary  for  his  own  preservation 
to  do  so;  a  right  to  take,  without,  or  against  the 
owner^s  leave,  the  first  food,  clothes,  or  shelter,  he 
meets  with,  Mhen  he  is  in  danger  of  perishing  in 
want  of  them."  I  take  these  words  from  Dr.  Pa- 
ley,  an  archdeacon  of  the  church  of  England. 
With  Dr.  Paley  all  the  authorities  agree  :  Gro- 
Tius,  PuFFENDORF  ;  all  the  great  civilians  of  other 
countries  ;  all  the  Fathers  of  the  church  ;  all  the 
great  lawyers  of  our  own  country,  from  the  time 
of  Edward  the  First,  down  to  the  present  hour; 
and  it  appears,  that  consonant  with  this,  was  the 
law  of  the  ancient  Britons,  even  before  Christianity 
was  known  in  this  land.  I  shall  content  myself 
with  the  words  of  Lord  Bacon,  the  great  pride  of 
English  learning  and  of  English  law.     His  words, 


100  LETTER  VI. 

in  his  Law  Tracts,  are  these  (page  55 :)  "  The  law 
chargeth  no  man  with  default  where  the  act  is  com- 
pulsory and  not  voluntary,  and  where  there  is  not 
consent  and  election  ;  and,  therefore,  if  either  there 
be  an  impossibility  for  a  man  to  do  otherwise,  or  so 
great  a  perturbation  of  the  judgment  and  the  reason 
as  in  presumption  of  law  man's  nature  cannot  over- 
come, such  necessity  carrieth  a  privilege  in  itself. 
Necessity  is  of  three  sorts  :  necessity  of  conserva- 
tion in  life,  necessity  of  obedience,  and  necessity 
of  the  act  of  God,  or  of  a  stranger  : — First,  of  con- 
servation of  life  ;  if  a  man  steal  viands  (victuals) 
to  satisfy  his  present  hunger^  this  is  no  felony  nor 
larceny.''^ 

NoYEs,  in  his  "  Maxims  of  English  Law,''''  says 
the  same  thing  :  all  the  great  lawyers,  of  whatever 
political  character,  or  opinions,  or  conduct,  are  in 
perfect  accordance  as  to  this  matter.  Blackstone 
and  Hale  insist,  that  the  taking  of  another  man's 
property,  never  can  be  defended,  in  England,  upon 
the  plea  of  necessity.  But,  on  what  ground  do  they 
say  this  ?  "  Because  charity  is  here,  in  England, 
reduced  to  a  system,  and  interwoven  in  our  very 
constitution,  by  the  several  statutes  made  for  the 
relief  of  the  poor.  THEREFORE,  our  laws  ought 
by  no  means  to  be  taxed  with  being  unmerciful, 
for  denying  this  privilege  to  the  necessitous." 

But,  what  follows,  if  you  abrogate  these  statutes  ? 
If  you  pass  an  act,  as  is  recommended  by  Malthus, 
to  refuse  to  the  suffering  creature  "  even  the  small- 
est portion  of  food  ;"  if  you  hold  with  Brougham, 
that  a  legal  provision,  even  for  the  aged  and  desti- 
tute, is  bad ;  if  you,  in  the  words  of  Mr.  Locke, 
tender  the  necessitous  man,  "  death  or  slavery  ;"  if 
you  assert,  that  the  landlords  have  a  right  so  to  use 
their  lands,   as   to  cause   the  natives  to   perish  of 


LETTER    VI.  101 

hunger,  or  of  cold  :  if  you  do  these  thing.-?,  then, 
Blackstone  and  Hale,  not  only  concede  this  dan- 
gerous right ;  not  only  agree  with  all  the  rest  of  the 
authorities,  but  give  a  practical  confirmation  of 
their  doctrines. 

"  Throw  them  on  their  own  resources,^^  indeed  ! 
Their  own  resources  are  their  time  for  their  own 
use  ;  their  untaxed  earnings  ;  their  eyes^  to  see 
where  the  things  are  that  they  want ;  their  legs,  lo 
carry  them  within  reach  of  those  things ;  their 
hands,  to  take  them  ;  their  teeth,  to  eat  them  ;  their 
heads  and  hacks  and  feet,  to  wear  them  ;  and  their 
hearts  and  arms  to  punish  those  who  would  hinder 
them  in  the  free  use  of  these  their  "  own  re- 
sources.'''^  These  are  the  "  own  resources''''  of  poor 
persons,  if  the  laws  of  the  community  cast  them  off, 
and  refer  them  back  to  that  law  of  nature,  which 
the  stupid  as  well  as  hard-hearted  Malthus  says, 
has  "  doomed  them  to  starve.''^  No,  monster  :  that 
law  has  doomed  them  to  increase  and  multiply,  to 
live  on  the  fruits  of  the  earth ;  and  the  law  of  God, 
in  the  words  of  St.  Paul  to  Timothy  (c.  2,  ver.  6,) 
has  declared,  that  "  the  husbandman  that  laboureth 
must  he  first  partaker  of  the  fruits;"  that  law  has 
commanded,  that  "  the  hungry  shall  be  fed,  the 
naked  clothed,  and  the  Iiouseless  taken  in  ;"  and 
with  this  law  the  law  of  England  is  in  perfect  ac- 
cordance ;  for,  as  is  most  just,  the  land  is  to  pay 
poor-rates  before  it  pay  rent ;  because  the  labour 
goes  before  the  crop ;  and  the  labourer  is  to  be 
sheltered,  let  who  else  may  go  without  covering. 
And  what  can  be  more  just ;  seeing,  that,  without 
his  labour,  there  could  be  no  covering  for  any  body? 
And,  as  you  do  not,  when  inability  to  work,  or 
want  of  work,  renders  the  horse  useless  to  you,  for 
a  while  ;  as  you  do  not,  in  such  a  case,  leave  the 
I  2 


103  LETTER    VI. 

animal  to  die  of  hunger,  or  turn  him  out  to  perish 
of  cold  ;  as  you  give  kim^  though  not  at  work, 
comfort  and  sustenance  ;  who,  that  is  not  a  hard- 
hearted brute,  will  deny,  that  comfort  and  suste- 
nance are,  in  such  a  case,  due  to  the  labourer? 
And,  as  to  the  "AGED  AND  INFIRM,"  for  whom 
Brougham  says,  that  no  legal  provision  ought  to 
he  made,  the  natural  winding  up  of  the  savage  creed 
is,  that  they  ought  to  be  A'l^^o^eA  oi  as  aged  horses 
are ;  sending  the  former  to  the  human  cutters-up, 
as  the  latter  are  sent  to  the  dogs  ! 

There  remains  but  one  pretence  for  those  who 
deny  the  rights  of  the  labourer ;  and  that  is  the 
plea  of  necessity;  and  this  brings  us  round  to  the 
very  point  at  which  we  started  ;  namely,  the  asser- 
tion, that  if  the  rights  of  the  poor  be  recognised,  the 
estates  will  he  swallowed  up.  How  swallowed  up  1 
not  by  an  earthquake  :  the  ground  will  still  remain 
where  it  is,  and  the  houses  still  stand  where  they 
are.  No  ;  but  there  will  be  no  rents  to  give  to  the 
landlord.  Aye,  there  is  sense  in  this.  But  without 
the  labourer,  the  land  is  nothing  worth.  Without 
his  labour  there  can  be  no  tillage,  no  inclosure  of 
fields,  no  tending  of  flocks,  no  breeding  of  animals, 
and  a  farm  is  worth  no  more  than  an  equal  number 
of  acres  of  the  sea,  or  of  the  air.  It  is  the  labour 
that  causes  the  rents.  Therefore  the  labouring  peo- 
ple, whether  in  sickness  or  in  health,  are  to  have 
the  first  maintenance  out  of  the  land.  Tell  me  not, 
that  the  farmer  is  unable  to  yield  to  the  labourers 
their  rights.  In  the  very  nature  of  things  he  must 
have  ability  to  provide  them  with  a  sufficiency  ;  be- 
cause his  land  produces  ten  times  as  much  as  they 
can  consume  ;  and  there  are  the  nine  tenths  for  the 
landlord,    the   parson,  and  the   farmer,  to   divide 


LETTER  VI.  103 

amongst  them.     So  that  this  is  a  pretence  flagrant- 
ly false. 

Yes  ;  but  the  government,  by  the  great  sums  that 
it  requires  to  pay  the  debts  that  it  has  contracted,  to 
support  its  pensioners  of  various  sorts,  and  by  the 
raising  of  the  value  of  the  money,  wherein  to  pay 
its  debts,  comes  and  takes  away  a  very  large  part  of 
the  nine  tenths.  This  may  be  true  ;  but  this  is  no 
ground  for  depriving  the  labourer  of  his  share,  es- 
pecially as  you  refuse  to  him  the  giving  of  his  vote 
in  the  choosing  of  those  who  make  the  laws,  who 
contract  the  debts,  and  regulate  the  expenditure. 
This  is  a  matter  with  which  the  labourer  has  no- 
thing to  do.  This  taking  away,  on  the  part  of  the 
government,  is  right;  or  it  is  wrong.  If  right, 
why  complain  :  if  wrong,  why  not  resist?  "Re- 
sistance would  be  unlawful :"  in  God's  name,  then, 
submit  to  it  quietly. 

It  may  be  right  for  the  government  to  take  away 
all  the  rents;  and  if  so,  the  government  only  re- 
sumes that  which  it  granted;  but  it  cannot  be  right 
for  the  government  to  take  away  the  fruit  of  the 
labourer;  for,  it  never  granted  the  labour.  A  na- 
tion may  exist  without  landlords  ;  but,  without  la- 
bourers, not  only  its  political,  but  its  physical,  ex- 
istence is  impossible ;  and  therefore  it  is  that  the 
Apostle  says,  that  "  The  husbandman  that  labour- 
eth  must  be  the  first  partaker  of  the  fruits."  "  Muz- 
zle not  the  ox,"  says  Moses,  by  the  command  of 
God,  as  he  "  treadeth  out  the  corn ;"  and  St.  Paul, 
in  adverting  to  this  command  (1  Corinth,  ch.  9.  ver. 
9,)  "Doth  God  take  care  for  oxen?  Or  saith  he  it 
altogether  for  our  sakes  ?  For  our  sakes  no  doubt 
this  is  written :  that  he  that  plougheth  should 
plough  in  hope ;  and  that  he  that  thrasheth  in  hope 
should  be  partaker  of  his  hope."     God  forbids  the 


104  LETTER    VI. 

owne*-  of  the  harvest  to  glean  his  fields,  his  olive 
groves,  and  his  vineyards ;  but  commands  him  to 
leave  the  gleanings  to  the  poor  :  thus  giving  a 
share,  even  to  those  who  may  not  have  laboured  at 
all :  and  the  righteous  laws  of  our  own  country  are 
in  conformity  with  this  law  of  God,  giving  the  poor 
as  perfect  a  right  to  glean,  as  they  give  to  the  far- 
mer his  right  to  the  crop.  Well,  then,  what  is  the 
conclusion  to  Avhich  we  come  at  last  ?  Why,  that 
the  labourers  have  a  right  to  subsistence  out  of  the 
land,  in  all  cases  of  inability  to  labour  ;  that  all 
those  who  are  able  to  labour  have  a  right  to  sub- 
sistence out  of  the  land,  in  exchange  for  their  la- 
bour;  and  that,  if  tlie  holders  of  the  land  will  not 
give  them  subsistence,  in  exchange  for  their  labour, 
they  have  a  right  to  the  land  itself.  Thus  we  come 
to  the  conclusion,  that,  if  these  new,  inhuman  and 
diabolical  doctrines  were  acted  upon,  instead  of  giv- 
ing that  "  security  to  property ^''^  which  is  their  pre- 
tence, there  w^ould  be  an  end  of  all  respect  for,  and 
of  all  right  to,  property  of  every  description  ! 

Oh,  no  !  my  friends,  the  working  people  of  Eng- 
land 1  Let  us  resolve  to  hold  fast  to  the  laws  of 
God,  and  the  laws  of  England  ;  let  us  continue  to 
hold  theft  and  robbery  in  abhorrence  ;  let  us  con- 
tinue to  look  upon  the  property  of  our  neighbour 
as  something  which  we  ought  not  even  to  covet, 
and  as,  next  after  life  and  limb,  the  thing  most  sa- 
cred on  earth;  but,  let  us,  at  the  same  time,  perish, 
rather  than  acknowledge,  that  the  holders  of  the 
lands  have  a  right  so  to  use  them,  as  to  cause  the 
natives  to  perish  of  hunger,  or  of  cold. 


THE    END. 


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